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UNIVERSITY 


dnJEBBEF.  &S  BaIRIREIEJPiITBILHSIHIjEIRS 





•     *  * 
•  •  •       • 


THE 


MASTERPIECES 


OF 


EUROPEAN  ART 


• 


BY 


P.  T.  Sandhurst  and  James  Stothert, 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH 


NUMEROUS  ENGRAVINGS  ON  WOOD  AND  ONE  HUNDRED 
AND  ONE  ENGRAVINGS  ON  STEEL 


FROM    THE 


ORIGINAL    PAINTINGS    OR    SCULPTURES. 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEBBIE  &  BARRIE  Publishers 

COPYRIGHTED 


Jtyioi  o 


• 


S 


W 


j(?    H 


5   > 


PACK. 

List  of  Steel  Engravings  of  Paintings vi 

List  of  Steel  Engravings  of  Sculpture viii 

Introduction  :    Egyptian  and  Asiatic  Painting ix 

Italian  School,  First  Part i 

Italian  School,  Second  Part .    .  17 

German  School • 85 

Netherland  School 141 

Spanish  School 177 

French  School 205 

Belgic  and  other  Schools 254 

Table  of  Engravings  on  Wood  printed  with  the  Text  ..." 265 

Index 267 

V 

_85014 


vi  CONTEXTS. 


STEEL    ENGRAVINGS   OF   PAINTINGS. 

ARTIST.                                               ENGRAVER.  .     . 

The  Monastery Achenbach,  0 E.  Goodall. 94 

Judith  and  Holofcrncs Allori. J.Carter .; 

Pastime  in  Ancient   Egypt AlmaTadema,  L C.W.  Sharpe 176 

The  Sibyl Angeio,  .'/. A  J.  Didter 6 

Hie  Reading  Lesson Anker,  A A.  ami  E.  Winn 24K 

The  Captives  in  Babylon Btndemann J.  C.  Armxtage 104 

Oxen  Ploughing Bonkeur,  Rosa P.  Moran 23a 

The  Ring  of"  St.  Mark Bordimi. C.  Geyer 14 

The  End  of  the  Day Breton,  Jules L.  Flame ng 228 

Reading  the  Bible Brian,  Gustare Rajon 230 

The  Critics Browne,  A/me.  //.....  C.W.  Sharpe 234 

The  Spring  of  Life Campotosto,  //. J.  C.  Armxtage 76 

St.  Mark's— The  Bucentaur Canaletti,  A J.  B.  Allen 58 

Silence Carracci,  A G.  Levy 30 

Sslv.in  Calm Claude  Lorraine .5.  Bradshaw 206 

The  Reproof Co<wans,  J. J.  Demannez 260 

Magdalen Correggio J.  C.  Armxtage 20 

N        Day  Rest Cuyp,  A J.  Cousen 166 

Heliodore Delacroix,  E L.  Flameng. 222 

Marino  Faliero Delacroix,  E L.  Flameng. zn 

Horace  Vcrnct Delaroche,  P. /.  Gaillard. 218 

The  Madonna Dolci,  Carl. F.  Bat. 42 

St.  Cecelia Domenichino Lumb  Stocks 32 

Samson Domenichino A.  Blanchard. 36 

The  Triumph  of  Galatea Domenichino A.  Blanchard. 38 

Homeless      Dore,  G /.  Saddler 240 

The  Hermit Douw,  Gerard.      R.W'allis 160 

The  Blind  Beggar Dxckmanns D.  Desrachez 262 

Columbus  Before  the  Junta Flameng,  L L.  Flamtng 252 

The  Jager's  Wife Foltz,  P. C.  LL  Jeens 128 

l"he  Arab  Falconer Fromentin,  £ L.  Flameng 220 

Helisarius      Gerard,  F. J.  C.  Armytage 212 

Dante Chrome,  J.  L C.  H.  Jeens Fronts. 

The  Burial  of  Atala Girodet.      T.  PkilUbrown 210 

Evening  Hymn Gteyer,  C.       Lemercier.      214 

Goya's  Daughtcr-in-Liw Goya E.  Hedouin 182 

Simplicity Greuze,J.  B F.  Joubert. 208 

Hard  Luck Griitzner,  E A.  Neumann 114 

The  Woman  of  Samaria Guercino B.  Mcunier 48 

Phxdra  and  Hyppolytu* Guerin,  P. //.  Bechvith 216 

The  IX-ath  of  Cleo|>atra Guide.     ...        Shenton  and  Bewney.    ...  46 

The  Skein  Winder Lfamon,  J.  L J.  C.  Thevenin 236 

Andromeda Lngrcs,  J.  A.  D L.  Flameng. 224 

Hcro.li.i-. Levy,  III Boilvin 230 

The  Infant  Christ Kfaratti,  C. Lecomte 54 

The  Misers Matsys,  Q //  Poume 134 

Waiting  an  Audience Meissonicr,  J.  /..  E.      ■    ■    ■  C.  Carey 238 

Cherries  Riik- Metzmacher,  Entile   .    .    .    .  P.  Lightfoot 248 

The  Bunch  of  Grape* M.t-.u.  G G.Levy 158 

I  Vath  and  the  Wood-Cutter '  Millet,  J.  F. Ed.  Hedouin 226 

Eccc  Homo MSraies,  L MatlteJer 178 

The  Fountain Muller,  C.  L C.  Cousen 222 


CONTENTS. 


ARTIST.  ENGRAVER. 

PAGE. 

St.  Francis  d'Assisi Murillo L.  Flameng. 196 

The  Infant  St.  John Murillo Lumb  Stocks 202 

The  Foot-Bath Plassan,  A.  E P.  Pelee 242 

Studio  of  Van  der  Velde Poitevin,  E.  C. C.  IV.  Sharpe 256 

Daughter  of  Zion Portaels,  J.  F. IV.  Greatbach 258 

Milking  Time Potter,  P. /.  Godfrey 168 

The  Shepherds  of  Arcadia Poussin,  N. F.  F.  Walker 205 

Morning Prud'/ion L.  Flameng.       218 

Angels  of  the  Madonna Raphael. F.  Lutz 1 

Salome      Regnault,  Henri. Rajon 226 

The  Beauty  of  Albano Reiilel,  A Lumb  Stocks 144 

Weary  Travelers Rembrandt. Mauduit 15 

Soldiers  Gambling Rosa,  Salvator Lumb  Stocks 52 

Mary  Anointing  the  Feet  of  Jesus Rubens,  P.  P. IV.  Greatbach 154 

The  Wife  of  Rubens Rubens,  P.  P J.  de  Mare 85 

Marguerite  at  the  Fountain Schaffer,  Ary L.  Flameng. 220 

The  Sisters Sohn,  Carl. P.  Lightfoot 90 

Ariadne  and  Bacchus Tintoretto,  J.      G.  Goldberg 28 

Titian's  Model Titian .S.  Smith 10 

The  Cow  Doctor Tschaggeny,  C. J.  Couscn 258 

Marriage  of  St.  Catherine Van  Dyck IV.  Ridgivay 164 

Charity Van  Eycken,J. P.  Lightfoot 252 

Phillip  IV Velasquez W.  Haussoullier 188 

Passing  the  Brook Verboeckhoven,  E J.  Cousen 256 

The  Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebastian Veronese,  P. C.  Ceyer 16 

The  Death  of  Columbus Wappers,  Baron D.  T.  Desvachez 254 

Insanity  of  Van  der  Hooge IVauters,  E L.  Monzies 252 

Lady  Constance Winterhalter,  F. T.  Vernon 136 

Hawking  Party  at  Rest Wouvermans,  P R.  IVa/lis 172 

Russian  Peasants'  Home Yvon,  A R.  C.  Bell. 244 

The  King's  Favorite Zamacois,  D.  E Durand. 184 

Venice Zeim,  F. L.  Gaucherel. 228 

The  Waterfall Zuccharelli,  F E.  Radclyffe 64 


STEEL   ENGRAVINGS   OF   SCULPTURE. 

Schiller     .    . Begas,  R .   W.  Roffe 118 

Hebe Canova W.  II.  Mote 62 

Entre  deux  Amours Carrier- Belleuse IV.  Roffc 246 

Cupid  Captured  by  Venus Fontana,  G G.  Stodart 80 

The  Lion  in  Love Gee/s,  IV J.  H.  Baker 120 

Medicine Hahnel,  E G.  Stodart 148 

The  Leopard  Hunter Jerichau R.  A.  Artlett xiii 

A  Scene  of  the  Deluge Lucardi,  V. G.  Stodart 68 

Europa McDowell,  P. W.  Roffe Title 

The  Sleep  of  Sorrow  and  Dream  of  Joy      ....  Monti,  R E.  IV.  Stodart 72 

Cornelia Moreau,  M. G.  Stodart. 250 

Love  the  Ruler Reilschel,  E.  F.  A R.  A.  Artlett 10S 

Protecting  Angels Reitschel,  E.  F.  A E.  Roffe no 

The  Filatrice Schadoiv E.  Roffe 132 

The  Bavaria Schwanthaler G.  R.  Hall. 100 

A  Basket  of  Loves Tlwrwaldsen E.  IV.  Stodart. ix 

Psyche Von  Hover,  IV.      J.  H.  Baker 140 


EGYPTIAN  AND  ASIATIC  PAINTING. 


'HE  daughter  of  Dibutades,  a  potter  of  Corinth,  whilst  bidding  farewell  one  evening 
to  her  lover,  was  struck  by  the  distinctness  of  his  shadow  cast  by  the  light  of  a  lamp  on 
the  plaster  wall  of  her  dwelling.  The  idea  occurred  to  her  to  preserve  the  image  of  her 
beloved  by  tracing  with  a  pointed  implement  at  hand  the  outline  of  his  figure  on  the 
wall ;  and  when  her  father  the  potter  came  home,  he,  appreciating  the  importance  of  her 
work,  rude  though  it  was,  cut  the  plaster  out  within  the  drawing  she  had  thus  accomplished, 
took  a  cast  in  clay  from  it,  and  baked  it  with  his  other  pottery.  Such  is  the  well-known 
Greek  tradition,  assigning  a  simultaneous  origin  to  the  graphic  and  plastic  arts,  and  claiming  both  as  of 
Greek  invention.  But  unfortunately  for  the  truth  of  this  pretty  story,  these  arts  were  known  and  practised 
long  before  even  the  original  Pelasgians  had  settled  in  Greece;  indeed,  it  seems  certain  that  they  were 
merely  transmitted  to  Greece  from  Egypt,  in  which  country  they  had  been  long  cultivated  before  they  were 
acquired  by  any  of  the  Indo-European  nations. 

Amongst  the  remains  that  have  been  discovered  in  various  countries  of  Europe  belonging  to  those  early 
pre-historic  periods,  called  by  archaeologists  respectively  the  Stone,  Bronze,  and  Iron  Ages,  many  vessels, 
utensils,  metals,  and  ornaments  have  been  found  engraved  with  rich  and  delicate  tracery,  and  remarkable 
for  their  graceful  shape  and  elegant  proportion,  proving  that  there  must  have  been  a  distinct  recognition  of 
artistic  beauty  and  fitness  even  at  that  early  period.  These  belong,  certainly,  more  especially  to  the  bronze 
age ;  for  the  rough  earthenware  vessels  and  flint  arrow-heads  of  the  stone  age  cannot  strictly  be  reckoned 
as  works  of  art;  but  even  the  poor  stone  man  hewing  his  square  coffin  may  have  been  moved  to  give  a 
greater  finish  and  merit  to  his  work,  in  obedience  to  an  impulse,  unrecognized,  no  doubt,  towards  artistic 
perfection. 

lx 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Looking  onward  from  those  dimly  seen  ages — whose  existence  is  only  revealed  to  us  by  means  of  such 
works  as  have  been  mentioned — we  come  next  upon  the  gigantic  monuments  of  EGYPT,  whit  h  st.ind  at  the 
beginning  of  history,  as  if  to  mark  the  boundaries  of  our  knowledge.  Before  them  everything  is  vague 
and  mythical,  but  after  their  erection  we  are  enabled  to  proceed  U|>on  something  like  historical  data,  and 
to  reckon  the  succession  of  centuries  and  dynasties.  Hut  we  must  not  forget  that  the  pyramids,  whilst  they 
thus  form  the  starting  point  of  history,  point  back  also  to  long  ages  of  endeavor,  before  the  wonderful 
knowledge  and  skill  displayed  in  their  construction  could  have  been  attained.  It  is  strange,  perhaps,  that 
no  archaic  remains  of  Egyptian  art  have  ever  been  discovered}  no  traces  of  the  rude  and  simple  efforts  of 
an  early  people.  Hut  so  it  is.  Everything  in  Egypt,  at  the  moment  we  first  catch  sight  of  it,  seems  to 
have  been  long  established  on  the  same  basis  that  we  find  enduring  until  the  end  of  its  history. 

the  origin  of  (Minting — the  youngest  born  of  three  sister  arts — dates  back  beyond  our  knowledge. 
It  i>  impossible  to  say  when  the  Egyptians  first  practised  it,  but  the  paintings  in  the  tombs,  many  of  which 
arc  referred  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  dynasties,  that  is  to  say,  to  a  period  not  less  than  two  thousand  four 
hundred  years  before  our  era,  or  upwards  of  four  thousand  years  ago,  reveal  an  art  already  far  advanced 
beyond  infancy.  Pliny,  indeed,  tells  us  that  the  Egyptians  boasted  of  having  been  masters  of  painting 
for  more  than  six  thousand  years  before  it  was  acquired  by  the  Greeks,  and  possibly  this  was  not  such  a 
"vain  boast,"  as  he  imagined. 

The  earliest  paintings  that  have  been  brought  to  light  in  Egypt  are  those  in  the  tombs  around  the 
pyramids,  supposed  to  be  those  of  individuals  living  in  the  reigns  of  the  founders  of  the  pyramids  and  their 
immediate  successors.  Next  come  those  of  the  sepulchral  grottoes  of  Beni  Hassan,  of  the  twelfth  dynasty 
which  afford  a  variety  of  representations  of  private  life.  From  these  and  similar  works  in  other  places, 
much  of  our  knowledge  of  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  is  derived.  Scenes  of  husbandry, 
such  as  ploughing,  reaping,  gathering  and  pressing  the  grape;  l>eating  hemp;  the  various  trades  of  carjienter, 
boat-builder,  potter,  leather-cutter,  glass-blower,  and  others;  scenes  of  fashionable  life,  amongst  which  a 
favorite  one  is  the  reception  of  guests  at  a  banquet;  hunting  parties,  duck-catching,  and  fishing,  everything 
that  is  killed  being  in  each  cane  registered  by  a  scribe;  wrestling  exercises,  comprising  games  of  various 
kinds;  darning;  musical  entertainments,  the  instruments  being  principally  harps,  lyres,  guitars,  drums,  and 
tambourines;  funeral  processions,  chariots  and  articles  of  furniture  belonging  to  the  deceased,  are  some  of 
the  principal  subjects  that  occur  on  the  walls  of  these  tombs.  But  the  subject  most  frequently  met  with  is 
a  representation  of  the  I.ast  Judgment,  where  the  deeds  of  the  deceased,  typified  by  a  heart  or  the 
funeral  vase  containing  it,  are  weighed  in  a  l>alance  by  Anubis  and  Horus  against  a  figure  of  Thmei  (Truth) 
placed  in  the  opposite  scale,  a  symbolism  that  reminds  one  forcibly  of  the  mediaeval  representations  of  the 
same  subject,  in  which  St.  Michael,  in  like  manner,  weighs  the  souls  of  the  departed  in  his  balance; 
but  it  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  Egyptian  symbolism  we  have  not  the  detailed  representation  of  the  tortures 
of  the  wi<  ked  that  the  Mediaeval  artist  delighted  to  depict.  Only  Cerberus,  the  guardian  of  the  Hall  of 
Justice,  crouches  l>efore  Osiris,  the  Supreme  Judge,  to  prevent  any  from  entering  his  presence  who  have  been 
found  wanting  in  the  balance  against  Truth.  Forty-two  assessors  of  the  dead,  or  avengers  of  crime,  also  arc 
represented  assisting  at  the  trial  as  witnesses  for  and  against  the  deceased.  The  transport  of  the  lwdy 
after  death  over  the  sacred  lake  in  a  boat,  is  another  subject  often  met  with,  and  was  no  doubt  the 
origin  of  the  river  Styx  and  the  ferry-boat  of  Charon,  of  Greek  symbolism.  Sacrifices  to  the  dead  some- 
times occur. 

There  are  several  Egyptian  paintings  of  great  interest  preserved  amongst  the  numerous  other  remains 
of  Egyptian  art  in  the  British  Museum.  Unfortunately,  the  originally  brilliant  colors  of  these  have  faded,  ami 
many  of  them  arc  now  fast  decaying;  but  when  first  discovered— such  at  least  as  had  not  been  exposed  to 
the  influence  of  the  atmosphere — their  colors  were  as  bright  ami  pure  as  when  they  were  first  painted.  Red, 
vellow,  green  and  blue,  with  black  and  white,  were  the  <  olors  employee).  These  were  applied  singly,  so  that 
no  variety  of  tint  was  produced.  Different  colors  were  used  for  different  things,  but  almost  invariably  the 
same  color  for  the  same  thing.  Thus  men  and  women  were  usually  red —the  men  several  shades  darker  than 
the  women — water  blur,  birds  blue  and  green,  and  so  on.     The  Egyptians  painted  their  walls;  they  painted 


A   BASKET    OF    LOVES 


engraved    by  e  .  w.  stodart  ,  from    the    bas-relief   by   thorwaldsen. 

at  Stockholm) 


BBIE     <?.-    BAR' 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 


their  roofs,  their  pillars,  their  obelisks,  their  bas-reliefs  and  their  sphinxes.  Even  granite  was  painted,  except 
when  its  surface  was  so  polished  as  to  have  sufficient  color  of  itself.  Painting  on  glass,  on  terra-cotta  and 
on  metal-  was  also  practised  by  the  Egyptians. 

The  Art  of  Assyria,  as  revealed  to  us  by  the  excavation  of  the  buried  palaces  of  Nineveh,  was  derived 
from  Egypt,  and  although  modified  to  a  certain  extent  by  the  character  of  the  people  and  the  nature  of  the 
material— dried  bricks— that  they  used  for  building,  it  remained  from  first  to  last  unchanged  in  its  essential 
features.  The  conditions  necessary  for  a  free  development  were  wanting,  in  fact,  even  more  under  the  slavish 
despotisms  of  central  Asia  than  in  the  priest-governed  country  of  Egypt. 

Nothing  is  now  left  of  "the  great  city  of  Babylon"  but  a  row  of  shapeless  heaps  of  rubbish,  covered 
over  with  sand ;  but  the  famous  palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar  is  described  by  ancient  writers  as  having  been 
literally  covered  with  paintings  on  the  outside  as  well  as  the  interior,  and  even  the  ordinary  houses  of  the 
city  are  said  to  have  been  similarly  adorned.  The  numerous  fragments  of  glazed  tiles  that  have  been  found 
in  the  neighborhood,  painted  in  rich  colors  with  animals,  trees  and  flowers,  testify  in  some  degree  to  the 
truth  of  these  accounts,  and  call  up,  even  at  the  present  day,  a  dim  vision  of  the  glory,  the  beauty  and 
the  pride  of  what  was  once  Babylon  the  Great. 

Like  the  Egyptians,  the  Assyrians  seem  to  have  used  color  wherever  it  was  possible.  Their  bas-reliefs, 
executed  in  delicate  white  alabaster,  were  generally  painted,  and,  as  may  be  seen  by  many  traces  left,  in 
strong  colors.  Scenes  of  real  life,  the  deeds,  the  wars,  the  hunts  of  their  kings  and  rulers,  were  the  subjects 
usually  represented — the  whole  aim  of  these  representations  being  the  self-glorification  of  one  despotic  ruler 
after  another.  They  mostly  say,  I,  Assurizirpal,  or  I,  Sargon,  the  mighty  king,  killed  so  many  enemies,  took 
so  many  towns,  and  carried  into  captivity  so  many  prisoners,  and  gained  so  much  plunder.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  fantastic  symbolism  prevails  in  their  expression  of  religious  belief;  and  their  gods,  like  those  of 
Egypt,  unite  human  and  animal  natures. 

The  Persians  found  in  fire  such  a  simple  and  noble  symbol  to  express  their  idea  of  God,  whom  they 
worshipped  as  the  spirit  of  light  and  warmth,  that  they  had  but  little  need  of  art  to  set  forth  their  religious 
belief.  Such  remains  as  exist  of  Persian  art,  more  especially  the  ruins  of  the  Palace  of  Persepolis,  show  that 
they  adopted  the  Assyrian  style  in  their  architectural  and  plastic  works. 

The  Hebrews  were  forbidden  by  the  law  of  Moses  from  making  any  likeness  of  the  Deity;  and  as  we 
always  find  the  art  of  a  nation  depending  to  a  great  extent  on  the  support  given  to  it  by  the  national  religion, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  no  distinct  Hebrew  style  of  art  was  developed.  Hebrew  art,  therefore,  must  be 
regarded  as  derived  from  the  Phoenicians  and  the  other  nations  with  whom  the  Jews  came  in  contact,  and 
thus  had  its  root  in  Egypt ;  for  the  art  of  the  Phoenicians,  as  well  as  of  the  Assyrians  and  the  other  nations 
of  Central  and  Western  Asia,  is  clearly  of  Egyptian  origin. 

Whether  India  also  owed  the  origin  of  its  art  to  Egypt  is  more  difficult  to  determine.  Here,  at  all 
events,  the  national  religion  quickly  developed  a  national  style,  and  art  ran  riot  in  expressing  the  fantastic 
imaginings,  mystic  aspirations  and  wild  exaggerations  of  the  Hindoo  mind.  Unfortunately,  but  slight  traces 
of  ancient  Indian  painting  exist;  still,  there  seems  little  doubt  that  it  was  used  for  wall  decoration  as  well 
as  for  coloring  bas-reliefs. 

The  Chinese  and  the  Japanese  display  at  the  present  day  a  wonderful  taste  and  aptitude  for  drawing 
and  painting;  and  as  everything  now  known  to  these  wonderful  people  seems  to  have  been  known  to  them 
from  the  remotest  antiquity,  we  may  conclude  that  painting  was  practised  by  them  at  a  very  early  date. 
Their  painting,  however,  is  chiefly  decorative,  and  seldom  rises  to  the  expression  of  the  individual  mind. 

Everywhere,  in  fact,  Oriental  art  exhibits  the  same  characteristics.  Hindered  from  free  and  independent 
growth  by  the  fetters  laid  upon  it  by  religious  systems  and  despotisms  that  regarded  all  innovation  as  crime, 
it  repeated  for  ages  the  same  types  and  symbols,  without  any  effort  at  intellectual  development. 


XII 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


LaAcotm.* 


CLASSIC    PAINTING. 

The  Greek   religion  was  a  pure   nature-worship.      The  mystic   element  that  we   have   seen  prevailing  so 

largely  in  the  religions  and  art  of  the  Eastern  nations  was  banished  as  far  as  possible  by  the  clear  and  active 

Greek  mind,  which  did  not  strive  to  express  its  idea  of  the  Deity  by  means  of  symbols  and  fantastic  forms, 

but  clothed  it  with  a  definite  human  shape.     Homer  had  indeed  represented  the  gods  as  beings  like  ourselves, 

endowed  with  human  passions  anil  sensibilities,  moved  by  anger,  jealousy,  revenge;  sorrowing,  rejoicing,  even 

suffering  as  we  do.     Here,  then,  in  the  national  religion,  the  Greek  artist  found  a  true  basis  for  a  naturalistii 

art ;  and  instead  of  the  monstrous  gods  of  Egypt  and  Assyria,  with  heads  of  animals  and  wings  of  birds  on 

human   bodies,  or   with   human  heads   on   animal    bodies,  he   fashioned   the  gods   that   he  conceived    in    his 

own  image — 

"And  then  roc»l  godlike,  being  moM  a  man." 

This  ideal   of  the   perfectly  harmonious  man  in  the  free  exercise  of  all  his  physical  and  mental  powers 


•  Discovered    In  1506.  at   Rome,  In  ihr  Srtte  Sale,  on  the  tide  of  the  Esquiline  Hill.      According  to   Pliny,  it  wa»  the  work  of  thr 
R»-o<iUn  utlttt,  Age»ender.  Polydorui  and  Alhenodorut  , 


THE      LEOPARD.HUNTER 


ENGRAVED    BY    R.A ARTLETT.  FROM  THE    SCULPTURE    BY   PROFESSOR   JERICHAU. 


XXHIVERSTTY 


INTRODUCTION. 


xin 


was  in  truth  the  highest  ideal  of  Greek  life  as  well  as  of  Greek  art.  No  nation  ever  exalted  to  such  an 
extent  the  physical  side  of  human  nature,  nor  paid  so  much  attention  to  the  education  of  the  body,  which 
it  esteemed  fully  as  important  as  that  of  the  mind.  And  no  people  ever  worshipped  beauty  as  the  Greeks 
did.      They  honored  the  fortunate  possessor  of  a  beautiful  form  and  face,  without  reference  to  any  mental 


quality,  and  even  instituted  prizes  at 
various  public  festivals  to  be  bestowed 
on  whoever  was  decided  to  bear  the 
palm  of  beauty.* 

The  period  of  the  highest  develop- 
ment of  Greek  art  came  after  the  ever- 
memorable  victories  over  the  Persians, 
when  not  only  Darius  and  Xerxes  were 
defeated,  but  the  ancient  despotism  of 
the  East  received  its  first  blow  from 
young  European  liberty.  It  was  after 
Marathon,  Thermopylae  and  Salamis, 
when  Athens  was  being  rebuilt  under 
Pericles,  that  the  Parthenon,  the 
Erechtheium,  and  the  temple  of  The- 
seus arose,  and  Phidias  and  his  con- 
temporaries called  into  life  a  world  of 
marble  forms  of  imperishable  beauty. 

Painting  was  much  later  than  sculp- 
ture in  becoming  an   independent  art 
in  Greece.     At  first,  as  we   have  seen 
it  in  Egypt,  it  was  chiefly  employed  in 
coloring  statues  and 
reliefs     of    clay     or 
wood.     Homer  does 
not  allude  to   it  ex- 
cept, indeed,  by  his 
simile   of  the   "red- 
cheeked  ships;"  but 
no  doubt  some  rude  ^ 

kind  of  painting  was 
practised,  especially 
at  Corinth,  "the  city 
of  potters,"  from  a 
very  early  time ;  but 
it  seems  to  have  been 
principally  applied  to 
vase-painting. 

It    was   not,    in- 
deed, until  sculpture 


Venus  de  Medici. 


had  reached  its  highest  perfection  that 
Greek  painting  assumed  any  great  im- 
portance. We  hear,  it  is  true,  of 
several  early  masters,  such  as  Clean- 
thes  and  Cleophantus  of  Corinth, 
Telephanes  of  Sicyon,  Eumarus  of 
Athens,  famed  by  Pliny  as  having  been 
the  first  to  distinguish  the  figures  of 
men  and  women,  and  Cimon  of  Cleo- 
nae,  who  seems  to  have  made  a  consid- 
erable advance  on  preceding  methods; 
but  the  first  painter  of  any  great  re- 
nown was  Polygnotus  of  Thasos,  who 
was  called  to  Athens  about  the  year 
462  b.  c,  by  Cimon,  the  son  of  Mil- 
tiades,  and  was  there  employed  in 
adorning  several  of  the  public  build- 
ings with  paintings.  His  style  was 
exceedingly  simple — only  colored  out- 
lines on  a  colored  ground,  without 
shade,  without  perspective,  in  sculpture- 
like relief;  yet  such  was  his  power  of 
expression  that  it  was 
said  of  his  Polyxena 
that  "  the  whole  Tro- 
jan war  lay  in  her 
eyelids."  Aristotle 
also  speaks  of  him 
as  "the  painter  of 
noble  characters." 
His  most  famous 
works  were  in  the 
Lesche,  or  public 
open  hall  at  Delphi, 
where  he  represented 
the  taking  of  Troy 
and  the  visit  of  Odys- 
seus to  Hades  in 
large  wall-paintings. 
Unhappily,    no     re- 


*  "At  the  festival  of  the  Philesian  Apollo,  a  prize  for  the  most  exquisite  kiss  was  conferred  on  the  youthful." — WlNCKELMANN. 

t  Generally  admitted  to  be  the  finest  relic  of  ancient  art.  It  was  dug  up  in  several  pieces,  either  at  the  villa  of  Hadrian,  near  Tivoli, 
or  at  the  portico  of  Octavia,  in  Rome,  in  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  a  nude  statue,  four  feet  eleven  and  one-half  inches,  and  from  the 
exquisite  symmetry  and  grace  of  the  figure  it  has  become  a  standard  of  excellence  for  the  female  form.  The  inscription  indicates  that  the 
statue  is  the  work  of  Cleomenes,  the  Athenian,  son  of  Apoliodorus,  who  flourished  200-150  B.C. 


xiv  MASTERPIECES    OF   EUROPEAN  ART. 


mains  have  been  found  either  of  these  or  of  any  of  the  other  great  works  of  Greek  painting  whereby  to 
judge  of  their  merit.  We  only  know  that  the  critical  Greeks,  whose  refined  and  cultivated  taste  was  not 
easily  satisfied,  bestowed  as  many  praises  on  their  painters  as  on  their  sculptors;  and  as  the  surpassing  excel- 
lence of  their  sculpture  is  universally  acknowledged,  it  is  naturally  inferred  that  their  (tainting  did  not  fall 
far  below  it  in  beauty.  Moreover,  from  the  relics  of  inferior  works,  such  as  the  lovely  vase-paintings  found 
in  every  museum,  and  the  wall  decorations  of  Pompeii  and  other  places,  that  have  been  preserved,  and  which 
must  be  considered  the  work  of  the  artisan  rather  than  of  the  artist,  we  arc  enabled  to  form  some  slight 
notion  of  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the  greatest  creations  of  Greek  painting ;  although,  alas !  not  one 
remains. 

Micon  of  Athens,  distinguished  for  his  painting  of  horses ;  Dionysius  of  Colophon,  who  seems  to  have 
given  a  more  portrait-like  character  to  his  figures  than  Polygnotus —Aristotle  having  recorded  that  he  "  [tainted 
men  as  they  were;"  Pan.ssl's  of  Athens,  and  several  other  painters  of  lesser  note,  belong  with  Polygnotus 
to  the  earlier  and  severer  development  of  Greek  painting,  which  took  place  about  500  b.  c.  "We  see,"  says 
I  iil>ke.  "in  this  epoch,  painting  applied  to  great  monumental  objects,  simply  and  strictly  directed  to  the 
representation  of  heroic  events  and  to  the  spiritual  and  thoughtful  element  they  contain;  yet  still  far  from 
realistic  perfection — aiming  rather  at  simple  grandeur,  worth  and  solemnity,  than  at  sweetness  and  variety. 
In  sober  severity  of  execution  it  consequently  appears  allied  with  the  works  of  Christian  art  in  the  early- 
Middle  Ages ;  but  in  the  delicacy  of  its  forms,  and  in  the  delineation  of  various  expressions  of  the  mind,  it 
is  indisputably  superior  to  it." 

The  second  age  of  Greek  painting  was  ushered  in  by  Apollodorus  of  Athens,  who  lived  about  a 
generation  later  than  Polygnotus,  and  was  the  first  to  study  the  various  phenomena  of  light  and  shade.  For 
this  reason  he  had  the  name  of  the  Shadower,  or  Shadow-painter,  given  to  him. 

But  the  most  celebrated  painter  of  this  time  was  the  famous  Zeuxis  of  Heraclea,  born  about  450  B.  c 
With  him  painting  attained  to  a  marvellous  expression  of  sensuous  beauty,  and  to  a  |xrrfection  of  illusory 
effect  that  was  almost  complete.*  His  chief  charms  lay  in  the  soft  grace  and  delicate  expression  that  he  gave, 
especially  to  his  female  figures,  and  in  a  dramatic  power  of  expression  that  has  never  perhaps  been  equalled. 
One  of  his  most  extolled  works  was  the  Centaur  family,  so  minutely  described  by  Lucian,  in  which  he 
succeeded  in  blending  the  human  and  animal  nature  so  intimately  that  "  it  was  impossible  to  discern  where 
the  one  ceased  and  the  other  began."  His  Helen  of  Croton,  also,  for  which  the  people  of  Croton  allowed 
him  to  select  five  of  their  noblest  and  most  beautiful  maidens  for  models,  was  one  of  the  most  famous 
pictures  of  the  ancient  world.  Zeuxis,  it  is  said,  exhibited  this  picture  to  the  public,  charging  so  much  a 
head  for  seeing  it,  after  the  manner  of  modern  exhibitions,  on  which  account  it  acquired  the  name  of  the 
Prostitute;    but  it  was  painted  for  the  temple  of  Juno,  at  Croton. 

Parrhasius  of  Ephcsus  was  a  formidable  rival  even  to  Zeuxis.  He  styled  himself,  indeed,  the  prince 
of  painters,  and  boasted  of  descent  from  Apollo.  According  to  Pliny  he  was  the  first  to  study  the  rules 
of  proportion,  and  he  came  very  near  Zeuxis  in  his  power  of  depicting  passion  and  feeling.  An  allegorical 
painting  by  him  of  the  people,  or  the  Demos  of  Athens,  wherein  he  set  forth  all  the  opposed  attributes 
of  the  Athenian  character,  is  especially  celebrated. 

Uniting  the  sensuous  beauty  and  rich  coloring  of  the  Ionic  school  with  the  severer  intellectual  qualities 
of  the  Sicyonic,  we  next  come  to  the  great  Apeu.es  of  Cos,  the  hero-painter  of  the  ancient,  as  Raphael  of 
the  modern  world.  As  with  Zeuxis,  grace  and  beauty  formed  the  distinguishing  charms  of  his  works,  but  he 
seems  more  than  any  other  painter,  except  perhaps  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  to  have  united  and  harmonized  in 
himself  all  the  various  gifts  and  faculties  of  the  artist  nature.  It  was  this  marvelous  harmony  doubtless  that 
rendered  his  celebrated  Venus  Anadyomene  so  perfect.  The  goddess  was  represented  rising  from  the  sea, 
wringing  the  water  from  her  hair,  which  fell  in  a  veiling  shower  around  her  lovely  form.  There  was  nothing 
more  than  the  single  figure  of  the  goddess,  but  the  ancients  seem  to  have  lost  themselves  in  admiration  of 

•  A*,  for  example,  the  story  of  the  frapes,  at  which  the  bird*  came  and  pecked ;  and  the  curtain  painted  by  hit  rival.  Parrhuius.  which 
deceived  even  Zruxis  himself. 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 


it.  Ovid  even  declared  that  but  for  this  picture  Venus  would  for  ever  have  remained  hidden  beneath  her 
native  waters.* 

Besides  heroic  and  mythological  subjects,  Apelles  painted  many  portraits,  one  in  particular  of  Alexander 
of  Macedon.  The  great  king  was  represented  in  the  character  of  Jupiter,  with  the  thunderbolt  in  his  hand, 
which  hand,  Pliny  records,  stood  out  in  a  wonderful  manner  from  the  picture.  Alexander  admired  Apelles' 
style  so  much  that  he  would  not  be  painted  by  any  other  master,  and  was  wont  to  say  that  "there  were 
two  Alexanders — one  the  unconquered  son  of  Philip,  and  the  other  the  unrivaled  work  of  Apelles."  He  paid 
the  painter,  we  are  told,  as  much  as  twenty  talents  (about  $250,000)  for  this  portrait.  Zeuxis  made  presents 
of  his  pictures  in  his  later  life  because  their  price  could  not  be  estimated.  But  with  Apelles,  Greek  painting 
reached  its  highest  point  of  perfection.  After  this  short  blooming  time,  the  inevitable  decay  began,  and 
when  once  it  began  it  proceeded  with  fearful  rapidity.     Greek  art  rose  and  fell,  in  truth,  with  Greek  freedom. 

The  last  painters  of  Greece  were  genre  painters,  and  so  numerous  were  they  that  the  Greeks  invented  a 
name  for  their  style  of  art.     They  called  it  "  Rhuparographia. "  which  in  its  literal  signification  is  dirt  painting. 

Etruscan  Painting  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  branch  of  Greek,  but  it  developed  several  peculiar  charac- 
teristics. The  plastic  genius  of  the  Greeks,  which  to  a  certain  extent  dominated  even  in  their  paintings, 
was  not  so  conspicuous  with  the  Etruscans.  Instead  of  sculpturesque  relief  they  sought  after  picturesque  effect, 
and  painting  was  early  cultivated  by  them  in  preference  to  sculpture.  Still,  however,  no  Etruscan  painters 
ever  attained  to  the  celebrity  of  the  Greek  artists;  nor  have  the  names  of  any  been  handed  down  to  us. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  few  remains  of  Etruscan  wall-paintings  have  been  discovered  in  subterranean  passages, 
and  such  like  places,  which  give  us  a  general  idea  of  their  style  of  art. 

Roman  Painting. — Rome  accepted  her  art  from  Greece  with  more  subservience  than  the  Oriental  nations 
had  shown  towards  Egypt.  She  did  not  invent  one  new  type  nor  conceive  one  new  idea.  The  Romans,  in 
fact,  utterly  lacked  that  artistic  faculty  which,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Greeks  possessed  in  so  high  a  degree. 
With  the  latter,  every  citizen  was  an  amateur  and  critic,  a  lover  and  a  judge  of  art,  and  had  as  much 
national  pride  in  the  production  of  a  master-work  as  in  the  conquest  of  a  town  ;  but  the  encouragement  of 
art  with  the  Romans  seems  to  have  been  more  a  matter  of  ostentation  than  of  love,  or  rather  they  loved  it 
as  a  means  of  displaying  their  magnificence,  not  from  any  true  vocation  to  its  service. 

In  painting,  the  Grsco-Roman  school  was  of  less  importance  than  in  sculpture;  but  on  the  other  hand 
the  Romans  themselves  evinced  a  greater  capacity  for  painting  than  for  the  other  arts.  With  the  exception 
of  portrait-painting,  for  which  there  was  a  constantly  increasing  demand,  nothing  beyond  mere  decorative 
works  seems  to  have  been  produced;  but  even  portraiture  fell  to  such  follies  as  representing  the  Emperor 
Nero  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  and  executing  likenesses  inlaid  in  silver,  and  even  in  pearls  and 
precious  stones,  the  richness  of  the  material  being  evidently  esteemed  more  than  the  art. 

Landscape  Painting  was  also  practised  under  the  empire,  but  only,  it  would  seem,  for  decorative 
purposes.  The  paintings  that  have  been  discovered  at  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  and  a  few  other  places, 
although  undoubtedly  the  work  of  inferior  artists,  in  an  age  when  art  was  greatly  degraded,  yet  possess  such 
a  wonderful  charm  in  their  correct  design,  their  perfectly  harmonious  color,  and  their  easy  classic  grace,  that 
we  are  enabled  to  form  some  notion  of  the  perfection  that  painting  must  have  attained  in  the  palmy  days 
of  Greek  art,  when  we  reflect  that  even  in  the  time  of  its  degeneracy,  and  in  a  foreign  country,  it  was 
enabled  to  produce  works  such  as  these.  The  subjects  chosen  were  usually  from  the  mythic  history  of  Greece, 
but  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  representations  are  the  figures  floating,  as  it  were,  above  the  earth, 
of  gods,  dancing-girls,  genii,  and  fluttering  winged  forms,  interspersed  generally  with  garlands  and  other  floral 

*  It  was  originally  painted  for  the  Temple  of  Asclepius  at  Cos,  but  was  subsequently  carried  to  Rome  by  Augustus,  who  remitted  a 
hundred  talents  of  tribute,  imposed  upon  the  island,  in  consideration  of  it.  It  was  in  a  decaying  state  as  early  as  the  time  of  Nero,  but 
no  artist  ventured  to  restore  it. 


XVI 


AfASTERPfECES    OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


decorations.  Nothing  indeed  can  well  be  conceived  of  greater  elegance  and  beauty  than  many  of  these 
I'.nnpeian  decorations,  and  yet  this  art  lacked  all  the  qualities  that  constitute  noble  intellectual  work. 

During  the  whole  of  the  Grseco-Roman  period  we  must  indeed  regard  art,  in  spite  of  its  many  lovely 
productions,  as  l>ecoming  more  and  more  degenerate,  until  at  last,  about  the  time  of  the  Christian  era,  it 
sank  into  a  state  of  utter  exhaustion.  The  old  classic  life  was  at  an  end,  with  all  its  physical  and  intellectual 
beauty  and  moral  deformity;  the  old  forms  of  belief  were  no  longer  credible;  the  old  gods  had  fallen  from 
<  Mympus.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  the  conditions  that  had  produced  classic  art  having 
thus  ceased,  the  art  itself  should  likewise  die  out.  A  new  religion  was  needed  to  express  the  new  ideas  of 
the  Deity  that  were  gradually  gaining  possession  of  men's  minds,  and  a  new  art  was  needed  to  embody 
these  ideas. 

This  religion  and  this  art  were  found  in  Christianity. 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


/^"CHRISTIANITY,   in   its  first  noble  protest  against 
,  ffityr  ^"^     the    idolatry  of  the   world,    wholly  rejected  art 

from  its  service  because  of  the  interpretation  then 
given  to  the  commandment  "Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thyself  any  graven  image;"  and  it 
was  not  till  Christians  had  ceased  to  be  a  persecuted  minority,  that  they  began  to  perceive 
the  value  of  art  in  embodying  their  ideas  and  teachings. 

The  first  Christian  painters  were  probably  converted  pagan  artists,  or  had  learnt  from 
pagan  teachers,  and  naturally  their  work  as  Christians  bore  the  impress  of  their  previous 
modes  of  thought.     This  is  especially  seen  in  the  Catacomb  paintings. 

Christ,  under  the  figure  of  Orpheus  taming  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest  by  the  sound 

of  his  lyre,  Noah  in  the  Ark,  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den,tMoses  striking  the  rock,  and  Elijah 

i 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


ascending  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  resembling  that  of  Apollo,  are  among  the  many  paintings 
in  the  Catacombs  in  which  the  direct  influence  of  classic  models  is  clearly  apparent  The 
traditional  heat!  of  Christ — with  which  every  one  is  familiar — we  owe  to  Byzantium  rather 
than  to  Rome,  although  the  first  time  we  meet  with  it  is  in  the  Catacombs.  All  die  efforts 
of  Constantine  to  revive  in  his  new  capital 

"The  glory  that  was  Greece 
And  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome," 

proved  in  the  end  as  unavailing  as  those  of  Julian  to  reinstate  the  old  religion  "The 
Galilean  had  conquered,"  as  Julian  is  said  to  have  acknowledged  on  his  death-bed,  and 
classic  art  fell  with  the  religion  that  it  had  embodied.  The  whole  teaching  of  Christianity, 
as  distinguished  from  paganism,  lies  in  the  Byzantine  conception  of  Christ.  It  is  the  man 
of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief. 

Solemn  visaged  Madonnas,  weird  Infants,  and  long-limbed  lean  saints  have  often  a 
mysterious  supernatural  life  that  awes  us  more  than  the  natural  and  eardily  beauty  of  more 
perfect  works.  It  is  the  direct  expression  of  die  artist's  own  religious  feelings.  But,  before 
developing,  Christian  art  sank  to  a  very  low  ebb.  The  influence  of  classic  models  gradually 
grew  fainter  and  fainter:  Byzantine  art  soon  took  the  place  of  this  feeble  classico-Christian 
school,  and  in  the  latter  works  in  the  Catacombs  we  find  it  everywhere  triumphant 

The  eleventh  century  witnessed  the  lowest  degradation  of  all  in  art.  Fearful  and 
disgusting  martyrdoms  and  blood-streaming  crucifixes  were  the  favorite  subjects.  Raoul 
Rochette  regards  the  strange  predilection  for  this  class  of  subjects  as  an  expression  of  the 
"gradual  saddening  of  the  soul  of  Christendom,"  probably,  however,  simply  the  result  of 
religious  terrorism,  for  we  have  no  paintings  of  that  kind  earlier  than  the  tenth  century,  and 
it  was  precisely  at  that  period  that  a  paralyzing  fear  took  possession  of  men's  minds  in 
consequence  of  the  widely-spread  belief  in  the  approaching  end  of  the  world  in  the  year 
iooo.  When  the  dreaded  point  was  safely  turned,  Europe  breadied  more  freely,  and  art 
revived  with  the  reviving  life  of  the  nations. 

Architecture,  especially,  accomplished  at  this  time  many  magnificent  works,  and  blos- 
somed mto  the  Gothic  style.  Sculpture,  as  independent  from  architecture,  was  little 
practiced  by  the  early  Christians;  it  had.  however,  even  less  artistic  merit  than  the  painting 
of  the  first  twelve  centuries.  But  with  the  thirteenth  century  a  new  epoch  commenced  in 
the  intellectual  history  of  Europe.     Modern  painting  dates  its  birth  from  this  century. 

Nicola  PXsamo  (born  with  the  thirteenth  century)  was  undoubtedly  die  first  who  gave 
expression  in  art  to  the  forward  movement  of  his  age;  for,  casting  aside  the  traditions  of  the 
Byzantine  Art,  he  turned  back  to  die  antique  for  inspiration,  and  formed  by  its  teachings  a 
new  and  nobly  classic  style.  But  more  especially  in  Tuscany,  the  ancient  Etruria, — which 
was  to  witness  die  full  glory  of  the  rivival, — these  stirrings  of  a  new  life  in  art  were 
early  apparent 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


Andrea  Tafi,  "Painter  of  Florence,"  the  earliest  artist  to  whom  Vasari  accords  a 
separate  biography,  (born  about  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,)  executed 
many  works  in  mosaic,  which  obtained  for  him  the  judgment  of  his  contemporaries 
"an  excellent,  nay,  a  divine  artist."  Mosaic  workers,  were,  at  this  time,  fully  entitled  to 
be  ranked  as  artists,  for  they  generally  worked  from  their  own  designs,  and  did  not  as 
in  later  times,  simply  copy  pictures. 

Gaddo  Gaddi  (born  1239,  died  13 12)  was  another  mosaist  of  Florence  of  con- 
siderable merit  for  his  time.  Giovanni  Cimabue,  born  at  Florence  1240,  ends  the 
Byzantine  succession  in  Italy,  which  had  continued  from  the  time  of  Constantine  till 
the  thirteenth  century.  In  him  "the  spirit  of  the  years  to  come"  is  decidedly  manifest; 
but  he  never  entirely  succeeded  in  casting  off  the  hereditary  asceticism;  although  in 
his  later  years  he  attained  to  much  greater  freedom  of  drawing,  probably  owing  to 
the  influence  of  his  great  pupil,  Giotto. 

With  Giotto,  the  revival  of  art  was  finally  and  fully  accomplished,  and  a  noble 
Christian  school  founded.  He  was,  in  truth,  the  first  master  of  real  creative  genius  that 
Christianity  had  as  yet  produced,  and  the  impulse  given  by  him  was  transmitted  through 
succeeding  centuries,  until  the  highest  perfection  of  Christian  art  was  reached. 

Giotto  has  left  us,  in  the  well-known  portrait  of  Dante,  painted  on  the  walls  of  the 
council  chamber  of  the  Podesta,  at  Florence,  a  striking  proof  of  his  skill  in  this  par- 
ticular; for,  simply  outlined  as  the  portrait  is,  it  is  an  undoubted  likeness  of  the  great 
poet.  Dante  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Giotto,  and  doubtless  exercised  an  important 
influence  over  his  mind. 

In  1 298  Giotto  was  invited  to  Rome  by  Boniface  VIII,  where  he  executed  the  cele- 
brated mosaic  of  the  Navicella  for  St.  Peter's.  The  chief  cities  of  Italy  were  decorated 
by  the  hand  of  this  great  master,  mostly  frescoes,  treasured  to  this  day.  His  last  work 
in  Florence  was  not  as  a  painter,  but  as  an  architect.  In  1334  he  was  appointed  by 
the  Republic  to  superintend  the  works  of  S.  Maria  del  Fiore,  and  it  is  from  his  design 
that  the  beautiful  bell-tower  arose  which 

"  Soars  up  in  gold  its  full  fifty  braccia, 
Completing  Florence  as  Florence  Italy." 

Like  all  original  masters,  Giotto  was  followed  by  a  large  number  of  pupils  and 
imitators.  We  often  find  it  thus  in  the  history  of  art.  He  was,  however,  fortunate  in 
very  intelligent  pupils,  who  spread  his  teachings  far  and  wide.  In  one  sense,  indeed,  all 
the  great  painters  of  the  modern  world  may  be  said  to  be  the  -  followers  of  Giotto,  for 
he  was  the  earliest  pioneer  in  that  vast  kingdom  of  nature  from  which  succeeding  artists 
have  drawn  their  noblest  inspirations ;   but  the  term  is  more  conveniently  limited  to  his 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


immediate  successors,  "The  Giotteschi."      Foremost  among  these  stand  Taddeo  Gaddi, 
Agnolo  Giotto  (the. son  of  the  master),  Tommaso  di  Stefano,  Buonamico  Christofani,  and 


several   others  of  varied  degrees  of  talent  and 
success.     This  influence  extended  far  beyond  their 
immediate  school,  especially  at  Pisa,  where  the  revival 
^  yrAS  begun  before  his  time  by  Nicola  Pisano. 

Pisa  in  the  fourteenth  century  was   undoubtedly  the    greatest    school  of   sculpture 
in  all    Italy,  but  strange  to  say,  she    produced    no   great   native   painter;    yet  we   have 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


at   Pisa   some   of    the    most    remarkable    painted    works    in    the    world — the    far-famed 
frescoes   of    the    Campo   Santo.      "There  are   few  places   in    the   world,"  writes  W.  B. 


Scott,  "likely  to  make  a  deeper  impression  on  the 
traveler  than  the  Campo  Santo  of  Pisa."  This  ceme- 
tery was  founded  at  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century 
by  the  Archbishop  Ubaldo,  who  is  said  to  have  brought 
home  fifty-three  vessels  laden  with  earth  from  Pales- 
tine, and  to  have  formed  with  it  the  Campo  Santo,  so  that  the  bodies  of  the  departed 
Pisans  might  have  the  advantage  of  resting  on  holy  ground.  An  open  arcade  or  cloister 
was  built  round  the  sacred  burial-place,  and  during  the  two  following  centuries  numerous 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


artists  were  employed  l>y  the  Pisans  to  adorn  this  cloister  with  paintings.  Like  the 
church  of  St  Francis  at  Assisi,  the  Campo  Santo  thus  contains  a  grand  pictorial  history 
of  early  Italian  art  Indeed,  were  there  no  other  remains  of  the  works  of  the  artists 
of  the  fourteenth  century,   we   should  be  able   to  form  a  very  good  idea  of  their  style 

0 

and  capabilities  from  these  two  places  alone,  A  painter  named  Datus  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  earliest  artist  of  the  Campo  Santo,  but  what  he  executed  is  not  now  discoverable. 
Other  painters,  some  of  whose  names  are  mentioned  in  the  records  of  the  Duomo  di  Pisa, 
succeeded,  but  it  was  not  until  late  in  the  fourteenth  century  that  any  important  work  was 
undertaken.  The  frescoes  illustrating  die  trials  of  Job,  by  Francesco  Da  Volterra,  who, 
although  not  a  Pisan  by  birth,  had  been  long  setded  in  Pisa.  Pietro  di  Puccio,  Spi- 
nello  Arettno  and  Andrea  Da  Firenze  illustrated  the  lives  of  several  saints.  Andrea 
Orcagna — in  his  frescoes,  "The  Triumph  of  Death"  and  "The  Last  Judgment" — 
achieved  the  most  remarkable  work  of  the  Campo  Santo. 

Spinello  Aretino  (born  1330),  before  mentioned  as  one  of  the  artists  of  the  Campo 
Santo,  is  best  known  by  his  "Fall  of  the  Rebel  Angels,"  a  fresco  in  the  church  of 
S.  Maria  degli  Angeli,  at  Arezzo.  Vasari  relates  that  Lucifer  was  highly  affronted  at 
his  portrait  in  this  picture,  and  appeared  to  the  artist  in  the  form  under  which  he  had 
represented  him,  and  demanded  to  know  why  he  had  made  him  so  ugly.  Spinello  never 
recovered  from  the  fright  of  this  dream.  The  original  fresco  has  now  entirely  disap- 
peared, but  many  drawings  and  engravings  of  it  exist 

The  mention  of  some  of  the  minor  schools,  and  the  names  which  constituted  them,  may 
without  blame  be  omitted  in  a  work  which  professes  to  treat  only  ol  the  masterpieces 
of  Europe.  The  Sienese  School,  from  Guido  da  Siena  to  Gherado  Starnino,  deserve 
a  passing  mention;  the  latter  especially,  as  the  master  of  Masolino, — a  name  which  brings 
us  to  the  fifteenth  century  in  Florentine  Art,  and  to  a  new  period  in  its  development. 

The  fifteenth  century  was  an  age  of  rapid  intellectual  growth:  everywhere  the 
germs  that  had  been  planted  in  the  two  preceding  centuries  started  into  life  and  sent 
forth  shoots  in  new  directions.  With  this  age,  indeed,  the  history  of  the  modern  world 
may  fairly  be  said  to  begin;  for,  with  the  knowledge  of  the  true  solar  system,  the 
discovery  of  America,  and  the  invention  of  printing,  the  mind  of  man  first  attained  its 
enfranchisement  from  ignorance  and  superstition.  Yet  in  all  things  the  work  of  the 
fifteenth  century  can  only  be  regarded  as  the  preparation  for  those  of  the  sixteenth. 
In  art  especially,  this  was  the  case.  The  great  artists  of  this  age  were  the  forerunners 
of  the  still  greater  artists  of  the  next  Masaccio  and  Mantegna  prepared  the  way  for 
Michael  Angelo;    Fra  Angelico  and  Perugino  for  Raphael,  and  Bellini  for  Titian. 

Florence,  the  city  of  the  Lily,  Florence  republican,  Florence  oligarchical,  or  Florence 
Medicean,  was  indeed,  under  whatever  form  of  government  she  chose,  the  loved  abode 


S    CUMiBAN    SIH1TIL, 


. 


UNIVERSITY 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


of  the  arts.  In  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting  she  expressed  her  thoughts  with  a 
power  and  a  beauty  that  no  other  city  ever  before  had  done,  except  indeed  Athens, 
to  which  she  has  often  been  compared.  The  history  of  Italian  art  now  limits  itself 
for  a  time,  almost  exclusively,  to  the  history  of  Florentine  art;  for  the  schools  of 
Pisa  and  Siena  which  seemed  to  have  been  putting  forth  their  energies  in  the  preceding 
century,  had  no  development  in  this.  It  is  true  the  Venetian  School  arose  during  this 
period  and  made  considerable  progress  under  the  Bellini;  but  the  Venetian  School  in 
its  aim  and  form  of  expression  is  so  totally  different  from  the  Florentine  that  it  will 
be  best  to  consider  it  apart,  and  to  follow  the  line  of  Florentine  painters  through  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  unbroken. 

As  in  the  thirteenth  century  we  saw  sculpture  preceding  painting  in  artistic  devel- 
opment, so  in  the  fifteenth  century  we  find  a  sculptor  at  the  head  of  the  forward 
movement  of  the  age.  Lorenzo  Ghiberti  occupies,  in  fact,  the  same  position  with  regard 
to  Masolino,  Masaccio  and  their  followers,  as  Nicola  Pisano  with  regard  to  Giotto.  Each 
was  the  herald  of  progress,  and  of  a  progress  that  was  to  be  achieved  by  painting 
as  well  as  by  their  plastic  art. 

The  celebrated  gates  of  the  Baptistery  of  San  Giovanni,  at  Florence,  of  which 
Michael  Angelo  said  "They  are  worthy  to  be  the  gates  of  Paradise,"  were  begun  by 
Ghiberti  in  1402,  when  he  was  not  quite  three  and  twenty,  and  were  only  finished  after 
forty-two  years  of  labor, — labor  on  which  he  bestowed,  as  he  himself  tells  us  "Grandissima 
diligenza  e  grandissima  amore" — the  greatest  diligence  and  the  greatest  love.  These 
gates  may  be  taken  as  inaugurating  the  new  era  in  the  progress  of  art,  for  the  scien- 
tific principles,  which  were  now  for  the  first  time  applied  to  art  were  fully  carried  out  in 
them,  and  the  rules  of  the  perspective  intelligently  obeyed.  The  knowledge  of  perspec- 
tive seems  to  have  come  to  the  early  painters  of  this  century  almost  as  a  new  revolu- 
tion. Giotto,  indeed,  had  often  obeyed  its  rules,  but  we  may  presume  that  he  did  so 
unconsciously,  for  there  was  no  science  of  perspective  in  his  day.  Foremost  among  these 
devotees  to  perspective  were  Pietro  della  Francesca,  and  Paola  Uccello.  Masolino  Da 
Panicale  was  another  scientific  painter  of  this  period,  but  he  did  not  study  perspective 
so  much  as  light  and  shade,  which,  likewise,  had  hitherto  been  but  little  understood. 

The  intellectual  spirit  of  the  age  is,  however,  most  clearly  apparent  in  Tommaso 
Guidi,  ( 1 402-1 428,)  better  known  as  Masaccio, — a  name  given  him,  it  is  said,  by  his 
companions  in  boyhood,  on  account  of  his  abstracted  air  and  slovenly  appearance,  and 
which  has  remained  to  him  through  posterity.  Masaccio,  or  "Slovenly  Tom,"  was 
undoubtedly  the  representative  painter  of  his  age,  as  Ghiberti  was  the  representative 
sculptor.  In  him  the  revival  of  ancient  learning,  to  which  the  great  scholars  of  that 
time  were  devoting  their  whole  attention,  first  bore  fruit  in  painting. 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Masaccio's   earliest   works   are  supposed  to  be  the    frescoes  in  the   Church  of  San 
Clemente  at  Rome, — where  he  represented  various  scenes  from  the  life  of  St.  Catherine; 


but   those    by   which   he   is   best   known   are   the 
celebrated   paintings  of  the   Brancacci   Chapel,  in 
f  the  church  of  the  Carmelites,  at  Florence, — illustra- 

tions of  the    life  of  St  Peter, — he    clearly   proved 
himself  the   first    painter  of  the   age.     He   died   at   the 
early  age  of  twenty-six. 
Giovanni  Da  Fiesole,  called    Fra  Angelico  (i  387-1455)  although  a  contemporary 


From  the  original, 


THE  GATE  OF  THE  BAPTISTERY,  FLORENCE. 


by  Lorenzo  Ghiterti 


io  AfASTERP/ECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

of  Masaccio,  belonged  in  feeling  entirely  to  the  preceding  century.  His  ideal,  so  he 
imagined,  had  been  revealed  to  him  from  above,  and  not  built  upon  his  own  mind. 
He  lived,  like  all  religious  visionaries,  in  a  world  of  his  own, — peopled  with  holy  things, 
with  whom  says  a  monk,  he  conversed,  wept,  and  prayed  by  turns. 

A  delicate  and  feminine  purism  charms  us  in  Fra  Angelico ;  they  are  the  expression 
of  a  pure  and  lovely  nature,  which  sinks  into  the  heart  of  the  beholder,  and  dwells  there 
in  association  with  looks  and  thoughts  too  sacred  for  sunshine  and  "too  deep  for  tears." 
His  pictures  are  to  be  found  in  many  of  the  capitals  of  Europe — "The  Coronation  of 
the  Virgin,"  in  the  Louvre,  "The  Predella"  of  the  Dominican  altar-piece  in  the  English 
National  Gallery,  and  several  in  Rome,  Florence,  Orvietto  and  other  places. 

Bknozzo  Gozzoli  (born  1424,  date  of  death  uncertain),  was  a  pupil  of  Fra  Angelico's, 
but  he  was  not  a  monk,  and  regarded  life  from  a  less  ascetic  point  of  view.  His  works 
are  much  more  human  in  character  than  his  master's,  and  although  he  remained  a 
religious  painter,  it  is  evident  that  the  naturalism  and  even  the  classicism  of  Masaccio 
produced  a  greater  effect  upon  his  art  than  the  mysticism  of  Angelico. 

In  1469  Gozzoli  was  called  to  Pisa,  where  he  was  employed  to  continue  the  work 
that  the  artists  of  the  preceding  century  had  so  nobly  begun  in  the  Campo  Santo,  but 
wh'ch  had  been  set  aside  for  a  long  period,  owing  to  the  political  disturbances  and 
ceaseless  misfortunes  of  that  city.  Here,  in  a  series  of  twenty-four  frescoes,  he  set  forth 
in  a  dramatic  manner  the  whole  history  of  the  Old  Testament,  from  Noah  to  the  visit 
of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to  Solomon.  "The  endless  fertility  of  fancy  and  invention,"  says 
Mrs.  Jameson,  "displayed  in  these  compositions;  the  pastoral  beauty  of  some  of  the 
scenes,  the  Scriptural  sublimity  of  others;  the  hundreds  of  figures  introduced,  many  of 
them  portraits  of  his  own  time;  the  dignity  and  beauty  of  the  heads;  the  exquisite 
grace  of  some  of  the  figures,  almost  equal  to  Raphael;  the  ample  draperies,  the  gay 
rich  colors,  the  profusion  of  accessories,  as  buildings,  landscapes,  flowers,  animals,  and 
the  care  and  exactness  with  which  he  has  rendered  the  costume  of  that  time — render 
this  work  of  Benozzo  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  monuments  of  the  fifteenth  century." 

It  is  not,  however,  quite  so  extraordinary  in  one  respect  as  Mrs.  Jameson  imagined. 
She  thought  that  these  frescoes  were  executed  "when  the  painter  was  upwards  of  sixty 
years  of  age,  and  worn  with  toil  and  trouble ;"  but  it  has  lately  been  ascertained  that,  as 
would  appear  more  probable,  they  were  really  executed  when  he  was  in  the  prime  of 
his  life,  having  been  begun  in  1468,  and  finished  after  sixteen  years  of  labor*  in  1484. 
Gozzoli  is  the  first  among  the  Italian  painters  who  seems  to  have  had  any  true  feeling 
for  landscape.     His  landscape  backgrounds,  although  unfortunately  often  filled  with  archi- 


•  It  appears  that  be  contracted  to  paint  these  frescoes  at  the  rate  of  three  a  year,  for  the  small  sum  of  ten  ducats  each,  about  equal  to 
$yx>  at  the  present  dajr. 


TIT1AKS     MODEL 


SAMUEL    SMITH    SCULP" 


ic    BAT!  R1E. 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL.  u 


tectural  details,  show  a  real  appreciation  of  the  beauty  of  the  earth,  and  an  honest 
endeavor  to  express  it.  They  are  as  different  from  the  Flemish  landscape  backgrounds 
of  this  period  as  the  Italian  landscape  itself  from  the  lowlands  of  Flanders ;  but  it  is  not 
impossible  that  Gozzoli  was  tempted  to  introduce  landscape  by  the  Flemish  example. 
The  Pisans,  it  appears,  were  so  delighted  with  his  work  in  their  Campo  Santo,  that  they 
presented  him,  in  1478,  with  a  grand  tomb  there,  in  order  that  he  might  enjoy  the 
advantage  of  resting  in  their  holy  ground.  The  date  of  the  gift  of  this  tomb  has  long 
been  supposed  to  have  been  that  of  his  death,  but  he  lived  some  time  after  this  sug- 
gestive present.  Besides  the  grand  altar-piece  by  Gozzoli  in  the  English  National  Gallery, 
there  is  a  very  quaint  little  picture  by  him,  assumed  to  represent  "  The  Rape  of  Helen." 
There  is  certainly  not  much  evidence  of  the  influence  of  classicism  in  his  rendering  of 
this  classic  subject.  It  is  impossible  to  help  laughing  at  the  grandly  attired  Helen,  who 
sits  composedly  on  the  back  of  Paris,  her  flowing  blue  dress  hiding  to  some  extent  his 
bright  green  coat,  but  not  his  ridiculously  slender  legs  encased  in  scarlet  stockings. 
Other  ladies  are  borne  off  by  the  heroes  in  a  similar  manner. 

Fra  Filipo  Lippi,  the  Dominican  brother  of  Fra  Angelico ;  Benozzo  Gozzoli,  Lorenzo 
Monaco,  and  Cosimo  Roselli  were  distinguished  contemporaries  (some  of  them  imitators) 
of  Fra  Angelico  and  Masaccio ;  but  a  passing  record  is  all  we  can  afford  in  the  limits  of 
this  work.  Cosmo  de  Medici,  the  patron  of  Paolo  Uccello,  died  in  1464;  but  his  son,  Piero, 
in  spite  of  strong  opposition,  succeeded  him  in  the  government.  At  Piero's  death,  which 
happened  in  a  few  years,  his  two  young  sons,  Guiliano  and  Lorenzo,  known  as  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent,  became  rulers  of  Florence.  The  name  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  calls 
up  all  the  remembrance  of  a  grand  constellation  of  scholars,  poets,  politicians,  historians, 
architects,  sculptors  and  painters  of  which  he  was  the  central  star.  It  is  only  with  the 
artists  that  we  have  here  to  do,  "but  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  achievements  of  art 
at  this  time  were  dependent  on  the  general  achievement  of  intelligence.  Besides  its  own 
internal  development,  two  new  inventions  at  this  time  gave  a  strong  impulse  to  art — 
namely,  the  invention  of  engraving,  whereby  works  of  art  were  multiplied  and  diffused 
abroad ;  and  the  invention  of  oil  painting,  which  added  greatly  to  the  beauty  and  dura- 
bility of  paintings.  The  latter  invention  was  made  in  Flanders  by  the  brothers  Van 
Eyck,  but  the  process  was  quickly  introduced  into  Italy,  and  was  at  once  practised  by 
all  the  great  painters  of  the  time.  Engraving  on  copper,  discovered  by  Maso  Finguerra, 
a  goldsmith,  in  Florence,  1452,  and  wood-engraving,  discovered  some  time  before  this, 
in  Germany,  were  henceforth  actively  employed,  and  aided  in  the  dissemination  of  art 
throughout  Europe. 

This  important  period  in  the  history  of  art  is  the  date  of  Renaissance ;  and  passing 
over  such  respectable  names  as  Sandro  Filipepi,  called  Botticelli  (1437-15 15),  and  Filip- 


I-' 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


GALLERY  OF  THE  UFFIZI.  FLORENCE 


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I- 


i4  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

pino  Lippi  (1460-1505),  both  useful  devotees  to  the  original  principles  and  the  new 
practice,  we  come  to  the  great  painter  upon  whom  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance  took 
the  strongest  hold — Domenico  Bigordi,  called  Ghirlandjo,  or  the  Garland-maker — a  name 
given  to  him,  says  Vasari,  because  he  was  the  first  to  invent  the  beautiful  silver  bands 
or  garlands  that  the  Florentine  maidens  of  that  day  wore  on  their  heads.  Without 
adding  much  specially  to  the  total  amount  of  experience  acquired  by  die  efforts  of  suc- 
cessive searchers,  he  conduced  much  to  the  masculine  art  of  Florence,  which  culminated 
at  last  in  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo. 

We  must  now  turn  from  Florence  for  a  time  and  look  to  Padua  for  the  next  great 
painter  of  diis  age — Andrew  Mantegna,  (1 431-1506.)  Mantegna  was  perhaps  the  most 
pagan  painter  of  his  age ;  yet  his  religious  pictures  have  a  forcible  reality  that  affect  us 
more  powerfully  than  the  weak  spiritualisms  of  many  of  the  religious  painters  of  the  Chris- 
tian School.  The  most  important  of  his  earlier  works  are  some  frescoes  setting  forth  the 
history  of  St.  James,  in  the  chapel  of  the  Eremitani,  at  Padua, — a  chapel  which  occupies 
the  same  position  with  regard  to  Paduan  art  as  the  Brancacci  with  regard  to  Florence. 
In  1468  Mantegna  entered  the  service  of  Ludovico  Gonzaga,  Marquis  of  Mantua,  from 
whom  he  received  a  pension  of  seventy-five  lire  a  month,  equal  to  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  a  year  of  our  money — at  that  time,  however,  a  considerable  sum.  After 
this  he  spent  a  considerable  part  of  his  time  at  Mantua;  but  in  1488  he  was  called  to 
Rome  for  a  time,  and  executed  frescoes  for  Innocent  VIII.  His  most  famous  works  are  his 
triumphal  processions,  subjects  that  seem  to  have  suited  his  pagan  proclivities.  The  best 
known  of  those  is  the  celebrated  "Triumph  of  Julius  Caesar,"  now  at  Hampton  Court. 
It  consists  of  nine  water-color  drawings,  each  nine  feet  square,  originally  executed  for  a 
saloon  in  the  palace  of  Ludovico  Gonzaga.  Mrs.  Jameson  says  of  these  frescoes:  "Hur- 
ried and  uninformed  visitors  will  probably  pass  them  over  with  a  cursory  glance,  yet 
Hampton  Court  contains  nothing  so  curious  and  valuable  as  this  old  frieze  of  Andrew 
Mantegna."  The  great  "Madonna  della  Vittoria,"  of  the  Louvre,  is  another  of  Man- 
tegna's  important  works.  Like  many  of  the  fifteenth  century  artists,  Mantegna  excelled, 
not  in  one  branch  of  art  alone.     He  was  a  sculptor,  architect  and  engraver. 

Mkllozzo  I).\  Forli  (painting  in  1472)  and  Luca  Signorelli  Da  Cortona,  1 471-1524, 
are  the  immediate  successors  of  Mantegna.  Luca  was  one  of  the  early  painters  of 
the  Sistine  Chapel  of  the  Vatican,  which  was  built  in  1473  under  Pope  Sixtus  IV. 
Perugino,  a  master  of  a  different  school  and  of  a  totally  opposed  style,  was  also  associated 
with  Luca  at  this  time.  Perugino's  three  frescoes  were  afterwards  destroyed  to  make 
room  for  Michael  Angelo's  "Last  Judgment";  but  Luca's  remain  to  testify  to  his  dramatic 
powers  of  composition.     They  represent  scenes  in  the  history  of  Moses. 

The  end   of  the   fifteenth   century  is  perhaps   the  most   brilliant  era  in  the   history 


VENETIAN     PAINTERS. 

PARIS      BORDOSE. 

The  Fisherman  delivering  to  the  Doge  the  miraculous  ring  of  StMark. 


62 


\\  a  n  a  n  y* 
UNIVERSITT 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  15 


of  Florence.  Under  the  splendid  rule  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  every  branch  of 
human  knowledge  was  cultivated  with  an  enthusiasm  that  has  no  precedent  in  history 
and  art,  especially,  under  his  direct  personal  superintendence,  was  stimulated  to  ever 
greater  achievements.  But  notwithstanding  the  outward  magnificence,  the  whole  fabric 
of  Italian  society  was  utterly  rotten.  The  Renaissance,  it  is  true,  kept  on  pursuing  its 
victorious  course,  but  a  reaction  against  it  now  set  in,  and  the  Spiritual,  or  Christian 
School,  which  had  languished  from  the  time  of  Fra  Angelico,  assumed  a  new  and 
deeper  significance. 

The  early  school  of  Siena,  which  in  the  fourteenth  century  numbered  some  excellent 
masters,  missed  the  Florentine  development.  It  had  never,  in  fact,  the  vigorous  manly 
qualities  of  its  rival,  but  its  deep  religious  sentiment  and  its  mystic  spirituality  were 
destined  to  find  an  everlasting  expression  in  the  work  of  the  favorite  painter  of 
Christianity;  for  although  Raphael  is  not  generally  reckoned  as  a  master  of  the  Sienese 
School,  yet  the  Umbrian  School,  from  which  he  gained  all  the  spiritual  qualities  of  his 
art,  grew  naturally  out  of  the  Sienese,  as  the  Sienese  out  of  the  Byzantium.  This 
grand  development  of  religious  art  occurred,  as  before  stated,  at  the  time  when  the 
worship  of  the  purely  intellectual  was  at  its  height;  but  it  was  not  in  Florence  that 
Christian  development  was  first  made  manifest,  but  in  a  very  quiet  place. 

Umbria,  a  country  district  of  the  upper  Tiber,  had  been  from  an  early  period  the 
chosen  seat  of  mysticism.  It  was  here  that  St.  Francis — the  favorite  saint  of  the 
middle  ages — was  born,  and  here  at  Assisi  was  the  most  celebrated  convent  and 
church  of  his  order.  The  Umbrian  conception  of  life  was  totally  different  from  the 
Florentine ;  the  keen-eyed  Florentines  regarded  life  ever  from  a  cheerful  point  of  view — 
the  Umbrian  character  was  characterized  by  deep  religious  feeling. 

Niccolo  Allimo,  of  Foligno,  was  the  first  master  in  whom  the  distinct  features  of 
the  school  appeared.  But  Pietro  Vannucci,  better  known  as  II  Perugino,  from  the 
place  where  he  principally  worked,  (1446-1524,)  is  beyond  all  the  others  the  represen- 
tative master  of  the  Umbrian  School. 

One  of  his  finest  paintings  is  an  altar-piece  in  the  National  Gallery  of  England, 
originally  painted  for  the  Carthusian  Convent  of  Pavia.  His  school  at  Perugia  was  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  in  Italy.  Numerous  students  from  all  parts  being  attracted  to 
it.  None  of  his  scholars,  however,  except  Raphael,  attained  anything  like  the  deep 
purity  of  Perugino's  color.  He  and  Francia  are,  indeed,  distinguished  beyond  many 
of  their  contemporaries  for  this  one  quality. 

Vasari  tells  us  of  Perugino  that  "he  was  an  irreligious  man,  and  could  not  be  made 
to  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul."  It  was,  therefore,  not  from  the  religious  enthu- 
siasm of  his  nature,  as  was  the  case  with  Fra  Angelico,  that  the  exalted  devotion  of  his 


i6 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


works  was  derived  Perugino,  indeed,  gives  a  rude  shock  to  the  theory  that  the  art  of 
the  painter  is  an  accurate  exponent  of  his  ethical  state. 

Bernardino  I)i  Betto,  called  Pinturiccho,  a  pupil  of  Perugino,  and  a  sort  of  art 
partner  (for  he  received  a  third  of  the  gains  of  their  joint  labor),  is  chiefly  famous  from 
his  frescoes  with  which  he  decorated  the  great  Piccolomini  Library  at  Siena. 

Francesco  Raibolini,  called  Francia,  (1450-15 17,)  is  so  closely  allied  in  sentiment, 
expression  and  color  to  Perugino,  that,  though  by  birth  and  education  he  belongs  to  the 
early  school  of  Bologna,  he  seems  naturally  to  rank  in  his  art  with  the  Umbrian  painter. 
Francia's  Madonnas  are  to  be  found  in  most  galleries  on  the  continent  of  Europe;  but 
he  was  so  well  imitated  by  several  pupils,  especially  by  his  son  and  nephew,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  decide  whether  the  paintings  ascribed  to  him  are  really  the  work  of  his  hands. 
There  is  a  lovely  Madonna  at  Munich,  about  which  there  can  be  no  doubt;  it  is  a 
so-called  "  Madonna  in  a  Rose-garden."  The  Virgin  sinks  on  her  knees  in  loving  adora- 
tion of  her  chikl,  who  lies  before  her  on  a  plot  of  grass  surrounded  by  roses. 

On  taking  our  leave  of  Francia,  we  leave  behind  the  fifteenth  century,  which  was 
progressive,  and  begin  the  glorious  sixteenth ;  but  we  will  find  that  the  sixteenth  was 
not  progressive.  It  reaches  ;perfection  all  at  once  in  the  works  of  several  painters,  has 
a  short  flowering  season,  and  then,  alas !  according  to  the  universal  law,  falls  into  decay. 
Its  history  and  laws  will  be  found  in  the  "Second  Book  of  the  Italian  School." 


w 


M 

H 


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H 


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H 


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0 


SECOND  PART  OF  THE  ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


EONARDO  DA  VINCI,  rather  than  Raphael,  Michael  Angelo  or  Titian, 
may  be  taken  as  the  representative  artist  of  the  sixteenth  century.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  notary  of  Florence,  and  was  born  at  Vinci,  in  the  Val 
d'Arno,  below  Florence,  in  1452.  His  genius  was  marvelously  pre- 
cocious, and  his  bent  towards  art  so  early  apparent  that  his  father,  struck  by  some 
remarkable  designs  that  he  had  made  at  a  very  young  age,  placed  him  with  Andrea 
Verocchio  to  study  painting.  The  pupil  soon  eclipsed  the  master,  who  "took  this  so 
much  to  heart,  that  a  mere  child  should  do  better  than  he  had  done,  that  he  would 
never  touch  colors  more,"  but  continued  to  work  in  marble,  and  also  to  execute  those 
exquisite  little  works  in  metal  for  which  he  was  greatly  celebrated,  although  unfor- 
tunately but  few  of  them  now  exist.  Meanwhile,  nothing  exceeded  the  powers  of 
his  astounding  pupil.  Not  only  was  he  the  greatest  painter  and  sculptor  of  his  day 
(for  Raphael's  and  Michael  Angelo's  stars  had  as  yet  scarcely  risen),  but  he  likewise 
ranks    as    one    of   the    earliest    leaders    in    science.      Mathematics,    geometry,  physics, 


17 


iS  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

chemistry,  astronomy,  geology,  botany,  were  all  studied  by  him  with  an  ardent  love  of 
knowledge  that  would  not  allow  him  to  rest  content  with  mere  superficial  acquirements, 
but  led  him  to  search  out  the  secrets  of  nature  for  himself.  His  scientific  theories  are 
often  strangely  in  advance  of  the  knowledge  of  his  time;  indeed,  many  of  his  treatises 
reveal  a  dim  insight  into  natural  phenomena  which  have  only  been  understood  rightly 
at  the  present  day.  More  especially,  however,  he  turned  his  attention  to  those  sciences 
that  bear  upon  art,  and  in  his  celebrated  treatise  on  painting  has  left  us  a  most  valu- 
able record  of  his  investigations.  Anatomy  he  made  a  profound  study;  perspective 
likewise  engaged  his  attention,  and  even  geology  and  botany  were  attacked  by  him  with 
fruitful  results.  In  fact,  there  is  scarcely  any  branch  of  natural  science  to  which  he  did 
not  contribute  some  pregnant  thought  In  the  lighter  accomplishments  of  society  he 
was  no  less  distinguished.  The  charm  of  his  conversation  was  such,  we  are  told,  that 
all  were  fascinated  who  heard  it;  and  his  rare  beauty  of  face  and  dignity  of  form 
seemed  to  be  only  a  fitting  setting  for  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  his  intellect.  He  was 
a  poet  and  a  skilful  musician,  and  used  to  play  on  a  kind  of  lyre  invented  by  himself, 
often  improvising  both  words  and  music. 

Of  the  works  of  this  great  master,  but  few  and  faint  relics  now  remain — rencs 
whose  sweet  lingering  beauty  only  makes  us  mourn  the  more  for  that  which  is  lost. 
His  "Last  Supper,"  which  ranks,  perhaps,  as  the  best  known  and  most  famous  picture 
in  all  the  world,  and  which  may  be  taken  as  the  highest  expression  of  Christian  art,  is 
now  a  hopeless  ruin.  Only  the  dim  outline  of  a  few  of  the  heads  can  still  be  traced 
of  the  original  work;  and  yet,  by  means  of  copies  and  engravings,  which  have  found 
their  way  alike  into  the  poorest  homes  and  the  richest  palaces,  it  is  known  to  almost 
every  Christian  child.  And  often  as  we  see  it,  in  wood-cut  or  in  Raphael  Morghen's 
noble  engraving,  it  ever  speaks  to  us  with  some  new  significance,  so  unfathomable  is 
its  solemn  beauty.  Endless  criticisms  have  been  written  upon  it  Fuseli,  lecturing  on 
the  celebrated  copy  belonging  to  the  Royal  Academy,  says,  "The  face  of  the  Saviour  is 
an  abyss  of  thought  and  broods  over  the  immense  revolution  in  the  economy  of  man- 
kind which  throngs  inwardly  on  his  absorbed  eye,  as  the  spirit  creative  in  the  beginning 
over  the  water's  darksome  wave,  undisturbed  and  quiet"  And  yet  this  divine  face  is  but 
the  perfect  development  of  the  type  founded  at  Byzantium.  We  have  the  same  cast  of 
features,  the  same  oval  face  and  melancholy  expression;  but  instead  of  the  hard  staring 
ugliness  and  crude  art  of  the  early  Christian  artist,  we  have  the  deepest  soul-beauty 
expressed  by  an  art  that  has  reached  its  final  perfection.  There  is  a  strange  contrast 
in  this  solemn  "brooding"  head  of  the  Saviour  to  the  dramatic  rendering  of  the  other 
characters  in  the  scene.  Each  one  of  the  disciples  is  moved  in  a  different  manner  l>y 
the  Master's  fearful  words,  "One  of  you  shall  betray  me,"  so  that  their  different  charac- 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  19 


ters  mount,  as    it  were,  to  the   surface,  and  can    be    easily  read   on    their   countenances. 
Only  the  Master  himself  sits  unmoved  and  calm  in  the  storm  of  feeling  around  him. 

"The  Last  Supper"  was  painted  on  the  wall  of  the  refectory  of  the  convent  of 
S.  Maria  delle  Grazie,  at  Milan.  It  was  painted  in  oils,  a  more  perishable  process  for 
wall-painting  than  fresco ;  but  still  it  is  more  from  neglect  and  barbarous  ill-usage  that 
it  has  perished  than  from  natural  decay. 

It  was  about  the  year  1483  that  Leonardo  left  Florence  and  established  himself  at 
Milan,  having  been  summoned  there  by  Ludovico  Sforza,  then  the  Regent,  and  soon 
after  the  usurping  Duke  of  Milan.  One  of  his  celebrated  female  portraits,  that  in  the 
Louvre,  known  by  the  title  of  "La  belle  Ferroniere,"  was  executed  during  his  residence 
at  Milan.  It  is  supposed  to  represent  Lucrezia  Crivelli,  a  mistress  of  Ludovico  Sforza. 
The  other  famous  portrait  of  the  Louvre  is  the  enchanting  Mona  Lisa,  the  wife  of  his 
Florentine  friend,  Francesco  del  Giocondo.  "Who  that  has  seen  Mona  Lisa  smile,"  says 
an  enthusiastic  critic,  "can  ever  forget  her?"  "It  fascinates  and  absorbs  me,"  wrote 
Michelet,  "I  go  to  it  in  spite  of  myself,  as  the  bird  is  drawn  to  the  serpent."  Excelling 
thus  in  depicting  the  charm  of  female  beauty,  it  is  natural  that  he  should  have  painted 
the  most  exquisite  Madonna  pictures.  Unfortunately,  there  are  not  many  of  these  in 
existence. 

In  1499,  after  Milan  had  submitted  to  the  French,  and  his  patron,  Ludovico  Sforza, 
defeated  in  battle,  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy,  Leonardo  returned  to  Flor- 
ence— if  not  immediately,  at  least  within  a  year  or  two.  After  this,  and  when  his  fame 
was  at  its  height,  he  was  chosen  by  the  Council  of  Florence  to  prepare  a  cartoon  for 
the  decoration  of  one  of  the  walls  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  the  other  wall  being  assigned 
to  Michael  Angelo.  With  this  commission  began  the  rivalry  of  these  two  great  artists. 
Leonardo  chose  for  his  subject  the  victory  of  the  Florentines  over  Nicolo  Picinnino  in 
1440;  whilst  Michael  Angelo  chose  an  incident  from  the  Pisan  campaigns,  and  repre- 
sented some  Florentine  soldiers  surprised  by  the  enemy  whilst  bathing.  Both  cartoons 
have,  now  perished,  but  the  memory  of  Leonardo's  is  preserved  in  a  powerful  group, 
that  Rubens  copied  from  it,  of  four  horsemen  fighting  for  a  standard,  whilst  a  small 
copy  exists  to  show  the  strength  of  Michael  Angelo's  conception. 

Two  more  opposite  natures  than  those  of  Leonardo  and  Michael  Angelo  could 
perhaps  scarcely  be  found.  The  rich,  generous,  handsome  Leonardo,  with  his  trains  of 
servants  and  studs  of  horses,  living  in  the  most  extravagant  manner,  and  attracting  every 
one,  rich  and  poor,  by  the  spell  of  his  manners  and  conversation ;  and  the  proud,  repel- 
lant,  bitter-tongued  Michael  Angelo,  whose  real  heart  lay  too  deep  for  men  to  discover, 
and  whose  solitary  soul  found  expression  only  in  his  works  and  not  in  his  words. 

When  Leo  X  was  elevated  to  the  Papal  throne  he  invited  Leonardo  to  Rome,  and 


20 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


accordingly  he  accompanied  Giuliano  de"  Medici  thither  in  15 13.  He  was  kindly  received 
by  Leo,  and  commissions  were  given  to  him,  but  from  some  cause  he  did  not  stay 
long.  Either  he  was  offended  by  a  remark  of  the  Pope,  who,  on  hearing  that  he  was 
distilling  oils  for  the  varnishing  of  a  picture  before  he  had  begun  to  paint  it,  is  reported 
to  have  said,  "Alas  the  while!  this  man  will  assuredly  do  nothing  at  all,  since  he  is 
thinking  of  the  end  before  he  has  made  a  beginning,"  or  else  he  who  had  been  first  in 
Milan  found  it  difficult  to  share  his  honors  with  Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael,  who 
already  held  the  field  in  Rome.  However  this  may  be,  he  left  Rome  and  joined  the 
brilliant  French  king,  Francis  I,  at  Pavia,  and  afterwards  returned  with   him    to   France. 


Honors  and  commissions  were  showered  upon  him  by  Francis  1,  but  his  health  and 
spirits  seemed  to  fail  from  the  moment  he  entered  France.  After  five  years  of  languor 
and  exhaustion,  during  which  he  was  unable  to  accomplish  any  of  the  great  works  he 
had  undertaken,  he  died  on  May  2,  15 19,  breathing  his  last,  not  in  the  arms  of  the 
French  king,  as  Vasari  and  tradition  relate,  but  probably  as  a  reconciled  child  in  the 
arms  of  mother  church,  from  whom  in  life  he  appears  to  have  strayed  away. 

Leonardo's  pupils  and  followers  have  a  rare,  excellence,  which  must  in  part  be 
attributed  to  the  overshadowing  greatness  of  the  master. 

Lorenzo  di  Credi  (i459-'537)«  a  Florentine  artist  and  the  fellow-pupil  of  Leonardo 
and  Perugino,  in  the  school  of  Verocchio,  owed  much  to  the  former.  Credi  was  one  of 
the  band  of  artists  in  Florence  who  were  moved  by  the  words  of  Savonarola,  who  was 
at  that  time  thundering  forth  his  eloquence  against  Florence.  But  foremost  among  the 
painters  who   went   to   hear  the   Florentine  Jeremiah   was  a   young   man   called   by  his 


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■5> 


22  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Tuscan  associates  Baccio  della  Porta,  because  he  lived  with  his  mother  near  one  of 
the  gates  of  the  city,  but  who  is  better  known  to  posterity  by  the  title  of  Fra  Bak- 
tolommeo  (1469-15 1 7).  The  mind  of  Bartolommeo,  in  the  impressionable  season  of 
youthful  aspiration,  was  completely  subjected  to  the  influence  of  Savonarola;  and  when, 
in  the  Lent  of  1495,  the  words  of  the  preacher  excited  the  Piagnoni,  as  his  followers 
were  called,  to  fanatic  extremes,  he,  as  well  as  other  young  artists,  threw  all  the  draw- 
ings and  studies  he  had  made  from  the  antique  upon  one  of  those  "pyramids  of  vanities" 
which  were  lighted  by  the  excited  Piagnoni,  and  which,  unfortunately,  burned  up  many 
things  besides  rouge-pots,  false  hair,  playing-cards,  and  other  even  less  reputable 
"anathema."  Bartolommeo,  however,  though  thus  renouncing  profane  studies,  still  pur- 
sued his  art;  but  happening  to  be  in  the  convent  of  San  Marco  when  it  was  besieged 
by  the  mob,  and  Savonarola  dragged  forth,  his  mind  was  so  completely  unhinged  by  the 
fearful  scenes  that  then  occurred,  and  by  the  subsequent  martyrdom  of  Savonarola,  that 
after  that  event  he  took  the  vows  of  a  monk  and  entered  the  Dominican  order,  entirely 
abandoning  painting,  and  leaving  his  friend  Albertinelli  to  finish  all  the  works  he  had 
in  hand. 

Mariotto  Albertinelli,  although  the  intimate  friend  and  assistant  of  Fra  Bartolom- 
meo, was  a  man  of  a  totally  different  stamp  of  mind.  In  politics,  as  in  everything  else, 
these  two  artists  took  opposite  sides — Albertinelli  being  an  adherent  of  the  Medici,  and 
a  scoffer  at  Savonarola  and  his  mission.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  this  contrast  in  their 
characters  and  opinions,  he  and  Fra  Bartolommeo  seem  to  have  been  much  attached; 
and  when,  after  spending  four  years  in  religious  melancholy  in  the  convent  he  had 
entered,  Bartolommeo  again  began  to  paint,  he  summoned  his  old  associate,  Albertinelli, 
to  work  with  him  in  the  monastery;  and  the  layman  and  the  monk  entered,  as  it  were, 
into  partnership*  the  monastery  dividing  the  profits  with  Albertinelli. 

Fra  Bartolommeo's  principal  subjects  are  Madonnas,  generally  surrounded  by  cherubs 
or  l>oy  angels  of  exquisite  beauty.  In  the  pure  loveliness  of  his  Madonna  pictures, 
indeed,  not  even  Raphael  or  Leonardo  excel  him.  Raphael,  whose  receptive  mind 
received  impressions  from  every  artist  with  whom  he  associated,  gained  much  from  his 
intercourse  with  Fra  Bartolommeo.  On  his  arrival  in  Florence  in  1504.  he  entered  into 
a  cordial  friendship  with  Bartolommeo,  and  received  from  him  many  valuable  hints  on 
the  management  of  drapery,  learning  also  the  secret  of  his  pure  and  harmonious  color 

The  greatest  work  that  Bartolommeo  accomplished  at  this  time — indeed  the  master- 
work  of  his  art — is  the  celebrated  Madonna  della  Misericordia,  in  the  church  of 
S.  Romano,  at  Lucca.  The  Virgin,  in  all  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  with  the  solemn 
dignity  that  Bartolommeo  has  always  given  her,  stands  with  her  arms  outstretched,  and 


•  Crowr  and  Ovakasrllc.  vol  lit. 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


23 


her  eyes  uplifted  to  her  son,  whom  she  beholds  in  glory.  At  her  feet  kneel  groups  of 
suppliants,  who  look  to  her  as  she  to  her  son,  beseeching  her  to  shelter  them  from  his 
wrath.  There  are  forty-four  heads  in  all  in  this  picture,  and  many  of  them  of  wonderful 
grace  and  beauty.  "The  Madonna  Enthroned,"  of  the  Louvre,  was  painted  for  Bar- 
tolommeo's  own  convent  of  S.  Marco,  but  was  afterwards  sent  as  a  present  to 
Francis  I. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1475,  Michael  Angelo  Buonaroti  was  born  at  Castel 
Caprese,  near  Florence,  of  which  small  fortified  town  his  father,  Ludovico  Buonaroti, 
was  the  podesta,  or  governor.  On  his  parents'  return  to  Florence  he  was  put  out  to 
nurse  with  the  wife  of  a  stone-mason,  thereby  imbibing,  as  he  was  wont  in  jest  to  assert, 
his  love  for  his  profession  with  his  nurse's  milk.  His  taste  for  art  being  at  all  events 
unmistakably  declared  at  an  early  age,  his  father  in  1488,  when  Michael  Angelo  was 
only  thirteen,  bound  him  for  three  years  to  the  masters  Domenico  and  David  Ghirlandaji. 

His  first  attempt  at  painting,  according  to  Vasari,  was  a  copy  of  the  celebrated 
plate  of  Martin  Schongauer,  the  "Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,"  which  he  reproduced  in 
colors,  and  on  a  larger  scale  than  the  original.  This  gained  him  great  credit,  and 
although  copied  from  the  German  engraver,  he  doubtless  threw  somewhat  of  his  own 
mind  into  it.  We  are  told  he  studied  attentively  the  fish  exposed  in  the  market  at 
Florence,  in  order  thoroughly  to  comprehend  the  fishy  nature  of  Schongauer's  devils. 

His  genius,  however,  in  spite  of  his  early  education  as  a  painter,  turned  naturally 
towards  the  plastic  art,  in  which  his  love  of  form  could  more  freely  be  exercised;  but  the 
sight  of  the  treasures  of  classic  art  in  the  famous  gardens  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
seems  first  to  have  given  him  a  powerful  impulse  towards  sculpture.  These  gardens 
formed  a  sort  of  art-nursery  for  the  young  artists  of  Florence,  and  Lorenzo  himself 
took  especial  interest  in  the  development  of  any  youths  among  them  whom  he  perceived 
to  possess  talent.  Thus  it  was  Michael  Angelo  fell  under  his  observation.  Passing  one 
day  along  the  garden  he  noticed  the  young  sculptor  as  he  was  copying  the  antique 
mask  of  a  faun,  one  of  the  statues  in  the  garden.  He  had  not,  however,  copied  the 
original  implicitly,  but  had  given  his  representation  a  wide-open  mouth,  in  which  the 
teeth  could  be  seen.  "Thou  shouldst  have  remembered,"  remarked  Lorenzo,  "that  old 
folks  never  retain  all  their  teeth — some  of  them  are  always  wanting."  The  hint  was 
taken,  and  the  next  time  Lorenzo  passed  that  way  he  found  that  one  of  the  faun's  teeth 
had  been  knocked  out  and  the  gum  filed  away  in  such  a  manner  as  to  look  as  if  it 
had  dropped  out  naturally. 

Prompt  to  remunerate  genius  as  well  as  to  recognize  it,  Lorenzo  immediately  took 
Michael  Angelo  into  his  own  house,  making  arrangements  with  his  father,  upon  whom 
he  bestowed  a  small  post  in  the  Customs,  that   his  son  should   be  given  up  entirely  to 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


his  care.     Thus  the  early  artistic  life  of  Michael  Angelo  bloomed  under  the  sunny  skies 
and  amidst   the  refined   splendor  of  the  court  of  the  Medici.      Every  day  there  was  a 


grand  public  banquet  in  the  palace,  at  which 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  the  politician,  the 
philosopher,  the  poet;  the  rewarder  of 
genius,  and  the  destroyer  of  the  virtue  and 
freedom  of  Florence,  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  the  place  at  his  right  hand  being 
free   to   whoever  should   come   first,  regardless   of  rank.     Thus  it  sometimes   happened 


ALJ.O.RI     PTi-TXT 


JTiUMTIK  WILTS.    T2E3    7£^i,Z     OF    ffl 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


25 


that  Michael  Angelo  sat  next  his  patron,  who  always  showed  him  great  favor,  and  once 
"  presented  him,  for  his  gratification,  with  a  violet-colored  mantle."     But  these  prosperous 


BOLOGNA. 


times  were  not  of  long  duration.  In  1492 
Lorenzo  died,  and  although  his  son  Piero 
succeeded  him  in  the  government  of  Flor- 
ence, it  soon  became  evident  to  every  one 
that  the  overthrow  of  the  Medici  was  near  at 
hand.  Michael  Angelo,  like  many  other  of  their  adherents,  left  the  city  before  the  storm 
broke,  and  retired  to  Bologna,  where  Piero  himself  was  soon  after  obliged  to  take  refuge. 


26  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


After  passing  a  year  in  Bologna,  under  the  protection  of  the  noble  and  generous 
family  of  the  Aldovrandi,  Michael  Angelo  returned  to  Florence,  where  Savonarola  was 
uttering  his  warnings  and  exhorting  his  fellow-citizens  to  repentance.  He  is  said  to 
have  been  one  of  the  adherents  of  the  Florentine  prophet,  but  he  could  scarcely  have 
been  such  a  devoted  disciple  as  Bartolomineo  and  several  other  well-known  artists,  for 
in  the  midst  of  the  wild  religious  excitement  of  the  Lent  of  1496,  when  statues  of  pagan 
gods  and  other  antique  relics  were  especial  objects  of  abhorrence,  and  when,  as  we 
have  seen,  Fra  Bartolommeo  threw  all  his  drawings  from  the  nude,  as  "  vanities,"  upon 
the  fanatical  bonfire  lighted  by  the  Piagnoni,  he  executed  a  small  figure  of  Cupid,  of 
such  classic  beauty,  that  he  was  advised  to  keep  it  underground  for  a  time,  until  it 
had  assumed  a  weather-worn  and  ancient  look,  and  then  to  pass  it  off  as  a  genuine 
antique  This  was  done,  and  the  Cupid  was  bought  as  an  antique  by  die  Cardinal  San 
Giorgio,  who  afterwards,  on  finding  out  diat  it  was  really  the  work  of  a  young  Florentine 
sculptor,  instead  of  resenting  the  cheat,  immediately  invited  Michael  Angelo  to  Rome. 

It  was  in  June,  1496,  when  he  was  just  one-and-twenty,  that  Michael  Angelo  entered 
the  capital,  which  was  henceforward  to  be  the  chief  theatre  of  his  labors,  his  contentions, 
and  his  triumphs.  His  fame  was  not  at  this  time  so  great  as  that  of  Raphael  when 
he  also  came  to  Rome,  at  about  the  same  age,  twelve  years  later. 

The  first  important  work  that  he  executed  at  Rome,  was  the  statue  of  Bacchus, 
now  in  the  Ufifizi,  at  Florence.  Critics  disagree  greatly  in  their  judgment  of  this  work; 
some  considering  it  the  perfection  of  manly  beauty,  and  others,  among  whom  may  be 
mentioned  Shelley,  calling  it  "nothing  but  a  detestable  representation  of  a  drunken  man." 
His  famous  Pieta,  however,  a  noble  marble  group,  representing  the  Madonna  mourning 
over  the  dead  body  of  her  son,  executed  about  the  same  time,  at  once  raised  him  to 
the  position  of  the  first  sculptor  in  Italy. 

After  acquiring  great  fame  for  this  work  in  Rome,  he  again  returned  in  1499  to 
Florence,  where  the  storm  hat!  broken  in  his  absence,  and  had  kindled  the  faggots  in 
the  market-place  for  the  martyrdom  of  Savonarola  and  his  companions.  The  greatest 
work  that  he  executed  at  this  time  was  his  colossal  statue  of  David,  which  still  stands 
in  front  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  at  Florence,  and  is  hewn  out  of  a  single  block.  "The 
erection  of  this  David  was  like  an  occurrence  in  nature,  from  which  people  are  wont  to 
reckon.  We  find  events  dated  so  many  years  after  the  erection  of  the  giant.  It  was 
mentioned  in  records,  in  which  there  was  not  a  line  besides  respecting  art.  For  centuries 
the  David  has  now  stood  at  the  gate  of  the  dark  powerful  palace,  and  has  passed 
through  the  various  fates  of    the  city." 

Soon  after  the  triumphant  erection  of  the  David,  in  1504,  Michael  Angelo  received 
the  order  for  the  painting  of  one  wall  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  the  cartoon  for  the  other 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  27 


wall  having  been  already  prepared  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  who  had  returned  to  Florence 
about  the  same  time  as  himself.  The  subject  of  this  work — Florentine  soldiers  surprised 
whilst  bathing  in  the  Arno — has  been  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  rivalry  that  arose 
out  of  it  between  Leonardo  and  himself.  Before  he  could  finish  even  the  cartoon  for 
this  work,  he  was  summoned  to  Rome  in  great  haste  by  Julius  II,  who,  hearing  that 
Michael  Angelo  was  the  greatest  sculptor  in  Italy,  at  once  felt  a  desire  to  secure  his 
services  for  the  execution  of  a  colossal  monument  which  he  desired  to  have  erected  for 
himself  in  St.  Peter's.  Michael  Angelo's  design  for  this  monument  greatly  delighted  the 
Pope,  and  he  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Carrara  forthwith  to  arrange  about  the  trans- 
mission of  the  marble  for  its  execution.  Whilst  he  was  gone,  however,  Bramante,  who 
was  then  the  architect  of  St.  Peter's,  and  who  appears  to  have  always  opposed  Michael 
Angelo,  did  his  utmost  to  dissuade  the  Pope  from  the  idea  of  this  mausoleum,  suggesting 
that  it  was  an  evil  omen  to  build  himself  a  tomb  in  his  lifetime,  so  that  when  Michael 
Angelo  returned,  he  found  the  ardor  of  Julius  for  this  undertaking  considerably  abated, 
and  when  the  marble  finally  arrived  in  Rome,  he  could  not  obtain  the  money  to  pay 
the  marble-cutters.* 

In  terrible  anger  at  this,  and  also  at  not  being  able  to  gain  admittance  to  his 
Holiness,  who  had  before  been  so  gracious  to  him,  he  suddenly  took  flight  from  Rome, 
and  rode  without  ceasing  until  he  was  upon  Florentine  territory.  "If  you  require  me 
in  future,"  he  said  in  a  letter  he  left  for  the  Pope,  "you  can  seek  me  elsewhere  than 
in  Rome."  He  must  have  been  a  brave  man  who  could  thus  defy  the  power  of  Julius 
II.  Messengers  were  sent  after  him,  who  commanded,  entreated,  threatened,  implored 
in  vain.  He  would  not  return,  maintaining  that  he  was  released  from  his  engagement 
respecting  the  mausoleum,  by  Julius  neglecting  to  fulfil  his  part  of  the  contract,  and 
that  he  had  no  wish  to  execute  any  other  commissions  in  Rome.  At  last,  Julius  wrote 
to  the  Signiory  of  Florence,  requesting  that  his  refractory  artist  should  be  sent  back 
to  him,  but  promising  that  he  should  go  "free  and  untouched,"  for  "we  entertain  no  anger 
against  him,  knowing  the  habit  and  humor  of  men  of  this  sort."  Julius,  in  fact,  did  not 
care  to  offend  the  man  whom  he  recognized  as  the  greatest  genius  in  his  capital. 

Still,  however,  Michael  Angelo  refused  to  trust  these  fair  promises,  and  it  was 
not  until  Soderini,  who  was  then  Gonfalonier,  or  chief  magistrate  of  Florence,  sent  for 
him  and  told  him  plainly  that  he  would  not  go  to  war  with  the  Pope  on  his  account, 
that  he  returned  to  his  allegiance. 

After  executing  a  large  bronze  statue  of  the  Pope,  at  Bologna,  where  Julius  was 
then    residing,  he    obediently   took    up  his    residence    in    Rome,  where,  instead  of  being 


•Grimm.      Life  of   Michael  Angelo. 


28 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


r 


tr  .  . .  •' '  .Li 


allowed   to  finish   the  mausoleum  as  he  desired,  he  found   that    Julius  was  now  bent  on 
employing  him  as  a  painter,  and   that   the   work  allotted   to  him   was  no  less   than    the 


w 

Q 


ft 

< 


"»  R  A  R 


^CALlFOj 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


29 


decoration  with  frescoes  of  the  whole  vaulted  roof  of  the  Sistine  Chapel.  The  task 
presented  many  difficulties.  He  had  never  before  worked  in  color,  and  it  was  difficult 
to  get  artists  to  assist   him.      But  Julius   overruled   all   objections,  and   in  the  end,  the 


From  the  original, 


LA  MADONNA  OF  THE  HARPIES. 


by  Andrea  del  Sarto. 


Sistine  Chapel  was  covered  with  those  marvellous  frescoes  which  have  been  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  all  succeeding  ages. 

In  the  triangular  compartment  of  the  vault  are  placed  those  figures  of  the  Prophets 
and    Sibyls  with  which   his  name  is  forever  associated.      These  idealizations  have  all  an 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


underlying  reference  to  the  subject  of  the  world's  redemption  by  Christ  They  signify 
die  waiting  and  longing  of  the  world  for  his  advent,  as  do  also  the  groups  of  the 
ancestors  of  Mary. 

Julius  II,  as  usual,  was  extremely  impatient  to  see  the  work  he  had  commissioned 
finished;  but  as  Michael  Angelo  worked  almost  without  assistance  (for  he  found  the 
few  painters  who  adhered  to  him  unable  to  carry  out  his  ideas),  his  frescoes  in  the 
Sistine  naturally  did  not  progress  so  fast  as  those  of  Raphael  in  the  Vatican,  who  was 
helped  by  a  number  of  first-rate  scholars.  One  day,  it  is  related,  that  Julius  came  to 
him  and  demanded  to  know  when  he  would  have  finished.  "When  I  can,"  replied 
Michael  Angelo.  "When  thou  canst!"  thundered  the  fiery  old  Pope.  "Hast  thou  a 
mind  that  I  should  have  thee  thrown  from  this  scaffolding?"  Michael  Angelo  dared 
not  brave  the  lion's  anger  any  further,  and  accordingly  allowed  the  scaffolding,  which 
he  had  constructed  on  a  peculiar  plan  of  his  own,  to  be  taken  down,  and  on  All 
Saints'  Day,  1509,  the  whole  of  Rome  crowded  to  the  chapel,  the  Pope  first,  "who 
indeed  had  not  patience  to  wait  until  the  dust  caused  by  removing  the  scaffolding 
had  subsided." 

When  Leo  X  succeeded  to  the  papal  throne,  Raphael  was  the  favorite  artist.  Michael 
Angelo  himself  desired  nothing  more  than  to  be  permitted  to  work  on  at  the  mausoleum 
of  Julius  II,  for  which  he  had  already  executed  his  great  figure  of  Moses,  and  he  even 
went  on  with  this  mausoleum  on  his  own  account,  without  receiving  payment;  but 
hindrances  were  constantly  thrown  in  his  way,  and  at  last  he  was  sent  to  Florence 
to  superintend  the  building  of  the  facade  of  San  Lorenzo,  and  to  execute  the  sculptures 
for  it  This  was  a  most  important  commission;  but  he  contrived  to  quarrel  with  the 
Pope,  and  also  with  the  people  of  Carrara  about  the  marble,  and  In  the  end  nothing 
was  accomplished.  Indeed,  the  ten  years  of  Leo's  pontificate  seem  to  have  been  well- 
nigh  lost  years  in  Michael  Angelo's  life. 

He  dwelt  alone,  a  gloomy,  self-centred  man,  with  thoughts  too  great  sometimes  for 
utterance;  but  Condivi  and  Vasari,  and  others  who  knew  him  best,  testify  to  the  real 
goodness  of  heart  of  the  bitter-tongued  old  man,  and  many  kind  deeds  are  recorded  of 
him.  His  style  of  living — very  different  from  that  of  Leonardo  and  Raphael — was  almost 
ascetic  in  its  abstinence.  "Rich  as  I  am,"  he  once  said  to  Condivi,*  "I  have  always 
lived  as  a  poor  man,"  Yet  he  was  never  a  miser,  but  contributed  freely  to  the  support 
of  his  relations,  many  of  whom  seem  to  have  needed  his  help. 

"The  I^ast  Judgment,"  the  work  which  Michael  Angelo  now  undertook,  to  complete 
the  decoration  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  has   suffered  more   fatally  from   time,  neglect  and 

•  Ascanio  Condiri  m  ■  pupil  of  Michael  Angelo.  and  lived  in  his  house.      He  published  a  biography  of  him  about  the  same  time 

as  Vasari. 


« 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL.  31 


injury  than  any  other  of  his  works.  The  paintings  on  the  roof,  it  is  true,  are  faded  by 
time,  and  blackened  by  dirt  and  clouds  of  incense-smoke.  Large  cracks  also  run  across 
them,  and  the  rain  has  oozed  through  in  many  places ;  but  in  their  inaccessible  position 
they  have  at  least  been  safe  from  the  ravaging  hand  of  man.  Not  so  "The  Last 
Judgment,"  which  has  been  subjected  to  every  species  of  ill-treatment,  but  has  received 
its  most  fatal  injury  from  the  purism  of  a  later  pope,  who,  offended  with  the  nakedness 
of   Michael  Angelo's  figures,  had  most  of  them  painted  over  with  gaudy  drapery. 

This  was  Michael  Angelo's  last  work  in  painting.  In  1547  he  was  appointed  by 
Paul  III  chief  architect  of  St.  Peter's,  an  office  which  he  undertook  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
two  "for  nothing  but  the  honor  of  God."  From  his  plan  was  raised  the  great  dome  of 
St.  Peter's,  and  the  whole  of   the  remainder  of  his  life  was  occupied  with  this  building. 

He  died  at  Rome,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1564.  His  body  was  carried  to  Flor- 
ence, by  his  own  desire,  to  be  buried,  although  he  had  been  a  voluntary  exile  for  thirty 
years  from  his  native  city. 

Sebasttano  Luciani  del  Piombo  (born  1485,  died  1547)  was  undoubtedly  the 
greatest  of  Michael  Angelo's  assistants.  He  was  a  Venetian  by  birth,  and  learned  the 
secret  of  Venetian  color  in  the  schools  of   Bellini  and  Giorgione. 

Another  assistant,  Daniele  Ricciarelli,  or  da  Volterra,  is  somewhat  original,  but 
his  originality  is  unpleasant.  He  exaggerates  Michael  Angelo's  peculiarities — treads  on 
the  dangerous  heights  of  sublimity,  and,  not  possessing  his  master's  calm  power,  is  apt 
to  slip  down  to  the  ridiculous.  His  principal  work  is  "The  Descent  from  the  Cross," 
in  the  Church  of  the  Trinita  de   Monti  at  Rome. 

The  other  followers  of  Michael  Angelo  fell  more  and  more  into  painful  mannerism, 
and  exaggerated  anatomical  displays.  They  produced  immense  paintings  with  nude 
figures  in  every  variety  of  attitude;  but  instead  of  the  grand  ideal  of  Michael  Angelo, 
which  was  based  on  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  real,  we  have  in  them  feeble  imita- 
tions, which  strive  to  reach  the  ideal  by  despising  the  real. 

Giorgio  Vasari  (born  151 2,  died  1574)  was  another  instance  of  a  tasteless  painter, 
who  strove  hard  to  attain  his  master's  "grand  style,"  but  failed  most  deplorably.  Per- 
haps, however,  had  he  been  a  greater  painter  he  might  not  have  left  us  his  delightful 
biographies,  which  amply  atone  for  all  his  deficiencies. 

There  yet  remains  to  notice  one  other  artist,  a  Florentine,  who  was  not  a  scholar 
of  Leonardo,  Raphael  or  Michael  Angelo,  but  who  maintained,  like  Fra  Bartolommeo, 
an  independent  position,  while  all  lesser  men  were  irresistibly  attracted  into  the  schools 
of  one  or  other  of  these  three  great  masters.  This  artist  was  Andrea  del  Sarto,  or 
more  correctly,  Andrea  Vannuchi  (1487-1531).  He  was  the  son,  as  his  cognomen  implies, 
of  a  tailor,  and    received    his    earliest   education  in  art  from  the    eccentric   old  Piero    di 


3* 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Cosimo.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  why  Andrea  del  Sarto  does  not  rank  with  the  very 
greatest  masters  of  his  time.  In  many  respects  he  was  their  equal,  and  yet  in  the  bril- 
liant constellation  of  painters  that  rose  and  set  in  Italy  in  the  sixteenth  century,  he  can 
only  be  reckoned  as  a  star  of  the   second   magnitude.     Such  a  classification  affords  a 


ROME. 


strong  proof  of  the  surpassing  greatness  of  those  few  masters  whose  names  shine  so 
brightly  in  art  history,  that  besides  them,  even  that  of  Andrea  del  Sarto,  "the  Fauldess 
Painter,"  grows  pale.  His  works  have  many  of  the  elements  that  usually  constitute 
greatness.  His  drawing  is  masterly,  his  modeling  perfect,  his  style  dignified,  and,  above 
all,  his  coloring  lovely  and  harmonious.  In  this  latter  quality,  indeed,  he  exceeds  nearly 
every  master  of  the  Florentine  school,  and  approaches  closely  to  the  excellence  of  Cor- 
reggio  and  the  Venetians. 


DOMEfUCHIHO,    P1NX1 


L.  STOCKS,    SCULP 


ST       (B  E  C  I  L  K  A 


(■  i-,  bb  i  t-    *  n  ' 


,B  H  A  ft 


UNIVERSITY 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


33 


Most  people  know  something  of  the  sad  history  of  Andrea's  life — how  he  was 
married  to  a  beautiful  but  faithless  woman,  who  exercised  a  sort  of  fatal  fascination  over 
him;  how  he  was  invited  to  France  by  Francis  I,  where  he  executed  a  number  of  works 


From  the  original. 


THE  MADONNA  OF  THE  CHAIR. 


by  Raphael. 


for  the  king  and  his  court,  especially  the  splendid  picture  of  Charity,  in  the  Louvre; 
but  how,  after  having  pledged  himself  to  execute  many  commissions,  he  returned  to 
Florence  at  the  solicitations  of  his  wife,  and  not  only  thought  no  more  of  his  promises 
to  Francis  and  his  nobles,  but   even   used   the   money  with  which  the  French  king  had 


34  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


entrusted  him  to  purchase  works  of  art  in  Italy,  for  his  own  purposes.  This  breach  of 
trust  does  not  seem  to  have  met  with  any  direct  punishment,  except  the  contempt  and 
avoidance  of  his  fellow  artists  and  citizens.  But  Andrea,  although  too  weak  to  resist 
the  devil,  was,  like  many  other  weak  men,  miserable  in  his  service,  and  "from  an 
eminent  position,"  says  Vasari,  "he  sank  to  the  very  lowest,  merely  working  for  a  live- 
lihood, and  passing  his  time  as  best  he  could."* 

Besides  his  easel-pictures — Madonnas,  Holy  Families  and  similar  subjects  for  altar- 
pieces — Andrea  executed  several  important  series  of  frescoes.  Those  in  the  SS.  Annun- 
ziata  at  Florence  are  the  most  celebrated.  He  seems  to  have  painted  here  at  three 
distinct  periods — first,  when  he  painted  a  series  of  five  frescoes,  setting  forth  the  history 
of  Filippo  Benizzi;  next  when  he  executed  "The  Adoration  of  the  Kings  and  the  Birth 
of  the  Virgin,"  a  composition  of  great  dignity,  and  beautiful  in  color;  and  lastly,  when 
he  executed  his  famous  Madonna  del  Saccof  in  the  lunette  above  the  entrance  to  the 
court  of  the  convent.  A  Last  Supper,  painted  in  the  refectory  of  the  convent  of 
S.  Salvi,  is  also  spoken  of  as  being  a  very  grandly  composed  work. 

It  is  by  his  oil-paintings,  however,  that  Andrea  is  best  known.  In  all  his  repre- 
sentations of  the  Virgin  we  have  the  same  type  of  beauty;  indeed,  it  is  said  that  he 
was  so  completely  absorbed  by  his  wife,  the  lovely  Lucretia,  that  unconsciously,  as  well 
as  consciously,  he  reproduced  her  features  in  every  woman  he  painted,  whether  Virgin, 
saint  or  goddess. 

Raphael  Santi  was  born  on  the  28th  of  March,  1483,  in  the  elegant  city  of  Urbino, 
where  the  Santi  family  had  for  some  time  been  settled.  His  father,  Giovanni  Santi, 
was  an  Umbrian  painter  of  some  little  reputation,  and  likewise  a  man  of  cultivated 
taste.  Of  the  young  Raphael's  early  productions  nothing  is  known  for  certain,  although 
much  is  imagined  by  his  biographers.  There  seems  no  reason  for  doubting,  however, 
that  his  father  being  an  artist,  he  learned  to  paint  as  soon  as  he  learned  anything.  At 
nine  years  of  age  he  accompanied  his  father  to  Cagli,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  he 
assisted  him  in  the  execution  of  a  fresco  that  still  exists  in  the  church  of  S.  Domenico. 
A  beautiful  boy  angel  in  this  fresco  is  said  by  tradition  to  be  the  portrait  of  the 
chiKl  Raphael;  and  Passavant  conjectures,  likewise,  that  a  Madonna  and  Child  in  Santi's 
house,  at  Urbino,  are  portraits  of  Raphael  and  his  mother,  Magia  Ciarla,  who  died 
when  he  was  but  a  child.  In  1494  his  father  died  also,  and  Raphael,  whose  inclination 
towards  art  was  now  decided,  was  placed  by  his  uncles,  when  he  was  twelve  years  of 
age,  in  the  school  of  Perugino,  the  most  celebrated  painter  in  Umbria.     Here  the  quick 

*  l!i\  supposed   state  of  mind   at  this  time   i»  id   forth   in   Robert   Browning's  dramatic  poem,    "Andre*  del  Sarto."  In  "Men  and 
Women  ' 

t  So  called  because  Joseph  is  represented  leaning  on  a  sack. 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  35 


genius  of  the  boy  soon  caught  the  style  of  the  master,  and  before  long  even  excelled 
him  in  that  dreamy  poetic  sentiment  which  is  the  chief  charm  of  Perugino's  art. 
Raphael's  early  works,  indeed,  resemble  so  closely  those  of  Perugino  that  it  is  difficult 
to  distinguish  them,  especially  as  we  know  that  the  master  was  wont  to  employ  the 
pupil  on  works  for  which  he  had  received  the  commission.  Raphael  had  at  all  times  a 
curious  talent  for  imitation — curious,  that  is,  considering  the  undoubted  originality  of  his 
mind.  He  could  never  come  within  the  sphere  of  any  great  artist  or  great  work  of  art 
without  the  influence  being  at  once  perceptible  in  his  works.  It  was  not  perhaps  so 
much  that  he  imitated,  as  that  he  assimilated  the  style  of  any  artist  whom  he  admired, 
and  carried  it  to  perfection ;  and  thus  it  was  with  Perugino — the  most  perfect  expression 
of  his  art  is  by  Raphael. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  independent  commission  Raphael  received  was  for  one  of 
the  great  religious  banners  to  be  carried  in  procession.  This  banner  is  still  preserved 
at  Citta  da  Castello,  as  well  as  some  others  of  his  early  paintings  in  Perugia;  but  his 
most  celebrated  work  of  this  period,  "The  Sposalizio,  or  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,"  so 
well  known  by  means  of  Longhi's  fine  engraving,  is  now  at  Milan.  It  is  one  of  the 
noblest  pictures  of   the  Umbrian  school. 

In  the  autumn  of  1 504,  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  Raphael,  a  youth 
already  "known  to  fame,"  quitted  the  school  of  Perugino,  whose  teachings  he  had 
exhausted,  and  repaired  to  Florence,  attracted  there,  no  doubt,  by  the  report  of  the 
mighty  works  that  Leonardo  and  Michael  Angelo  were  executing  in  that  city.  "When," 
says  Vasari,  "he  first  saw  Leonardo's  works,  he  stood  before  them  perfectly  amazed  and 
astonished.  They  pleased  him  at  once  better  than  all  he  had  seen  before,  and  he  felt 
therefore  impelled  to  a  deeper  study  of  them."  The  effects  of  this  study  were  soon 
visible. 

At  Perugia,  Raphael  executed  his  first  fresco,  a  painting  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  in 
the  church  of  San  Severo.  This  work,  it  is  said,  is  strongly  reminiscent  of  Fra  Bar- 
tolommeo's  fresco  in  Santa  Maria  Novella;  but  Raphael  afterwards  carried  out  the  same 
composition  in  the  fulness  of  his  power  in  his  celebrated  "Disputa  del  Sacramenta,"  and 
thus  made  it  his  own  for  ever. 

But  it  is  evident  that  Raphael,  having  once  become  acquainted  with  the  achieve- 
ments of  Florence,  was  anxious  to  return  to  that  stirring  and  art-loving  capital,  and 
accordingly,  neglecting  a  commission  he  had  received  from  the  nuns  of  Monte  Luce, 
who  desired  an  altar-piece  by  "the  best  painter,"  we  find  him  at  the  close  of  1506  again 
in  Florence,  after  having  made,  probably,  a  short  visit  to  Bologna.  His  stay  in  Flor- 
ence, however,  was  not  destined  to  be  long,  although  he  seems  to  have  gone  there 
with  the  intention  of  settling,  and  the  development  of  his  art  under  Florentine  influences 


I»  H  A  „ 

UNIVERSITY 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


was  steadily  progressing.  Some  of  his  most  lovely  and  famous  Madonnas  were  executed 
at  this  period,  and  evince  the  fullest  comprehension  of  the  aims  of  the  Florentine  school. 
"The  Madonna  del  Cardellino"  (with  the  goldfinch),  in  the  Uffizi  at  Florence;  "The 
Madonna   with    the    Palm-tree,"    in    the    Bridgewater   gallery;    "The    Madonna    in    die 


/■'rem  Iht  anginal. 


TEMPTATION. 


fy  Rafkatl. 


Meadow,"  at  Vienna;  the  Madonna  of  the  Tempi  family,  at  Munich;  "The  Holy  Family" 
of  the  House  of  Canigiani,  also  at  Munich;  "The  Madonna  with  the  Pink,"  and  the 
famous  "Belle  Jardiniere,"  of  the  Louvre,  as  well  as  several  others  less  known,  are  all 
considered  to   have   been   painted   at   Florence   before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  five- 


LE  DOM     . 


AUG.  BLANCHAKD    SCULPT 


SAISOI, 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


37 


and-twenty.  But  the  work  above  all  others  that  most  strikingly  reveals  his  study  and 
comprehension  of  the  progressive  Florentine  masters  is  "The  Entombment,"  of  the 
Palazzo  Borghese  at  Rome. 

It  was  not  Florence,  however,  that  was  destined  to  be  the  theatre  of  Raphael's 
greatest  triumphs.  About  the  middle  of  1508,  after  he  had  spent  about  a  year  and  a 
half  at  Florence,  during  which  time  he   had   achieved  a  surprising  amount  of  work,  he 


From  the  original. 


THE  DELIVERANCE  OF  ST.   PETER. 


apnae 


was  called  to  Rome  by  that  extraordinary  old  pope,  Julius  II,  who,  although  he  had 
Bramante  and  Michael  Angelo  already  in  his  service,  could  not  rest  content  without 
securing  also  the  rising  genius  of  Raphael  to  decorate  his  magnificent  palace  of  the 
Vatican,  which  Bramante  had  now  reconstructed  with  unsurpassed  skill,  and  in  an  incred- 
ibly short  space  of  time.  Buildings  and  other  works  of  art  arose,  indeed,  as  if  by  magic 
in  the  Rome  of  Julius  II,  for  such  was  this  pope's  impatience  to  see  the  great  works 
that  he  had  planned  completed  before  his  death,  that  he  left  those  he  employed  no 
peace  until    they  executed   his    commissions.      Three    chambers   in   a   large   saloon,  now 


38  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

known  by  the  name  of  the  Stanze  of  Raphael,  were  covered  by  him,  ceilings  and  walls, 
with  paintings.  In  the  first  chamber — Camera  della  Segnatura — is  symbolized  the  power 
of  Intellect.  Theology,  Poetry,  Philosophy,  and  Jurisprudence,  the  highest  pursuits  of 
the  cultivated  mind,  are  represented  by  noble  allegorical  figures  on  the  ceiling.  Beneath 
Theology,  on  the  walls  of  the  chamber,  is  the  great  expression  of  the  power  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  known  as  "La  Disputa."  The  upper  part  of  this  fresco  represents 
the  Church  Triumphant,  with  Christ  in  glory.  Rays  of  light,  glorifying  angelic  forms, 
beam  down  on  the  Son,  the  Virgin  and  St  John.  The  Dove  of  the  Spirit  flies  beneath, 
shedding  rays  downwards  on  the  altar  in  the  lower  portion.  Above,  in  the  midst  of  the 
glory,  is  the  grand  figure  of  the  Father,  represented  according  to  the  tradition  of  earlier 
painters.  The  lower  half  of  this  subject  shows  the  fathers,  bishops  and  doctors  of  the 
Church  grouped  on  either  side  of  an  altar  bearing  the  Host,  or  mystical  embodiment 
of  Christ  on  earth.  The  liveliest  action  is  displayed  by  these  figures,  who  seem  to  be 
arguing  (hence  the  name,  "La  Disputa")  about  some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church. 

Great  must  have  been  the  satisfaction  of  Julius  II  when  he  looked  round  upon  the 
works  that  his  commands  had  incited  the  two  greatest  artists  of  his  age  to  produce. 
But  whilst  planning  still  greater  achievements,  he  died  in  15 13,  at  a  great  age,  his 
energy  and  intellect  undiminished  to  the  last.  We  seem  to  know  the  man  from 
Raphael's  magnificent  portrait.  His  shrewd  understanding  looks  forth  from  the  small 
piercing  eyes,  and  his  inflexible  will  is  set  in  the  firmly  compressed  mouth.  A  grand 
old  man,  who  subjugates  us  even  now,  as  we  look  at  him  with  his  fine  snow-white  beard 
falling  on  to  his  velvet  cape,  and  with  his  great  ruby  ring  flashing  from  his  finger  as 
he  grasps  the  arm  of  his  chair.  At  the  time  of  the  painting  of  this  portrait,  Raphael's 
reputation  was  already  greater  than  that  of  any  other  artist,  not  even  excepting  Michael 
Angelo,  who  seems  to  have  felt  some  bitterness  at  the  astounding  success  of  his 
youthful  rival. 

Fortunately  the  death  of  Julius  II  did  not  at  all  interfere  with  the  work  which  was 
going  on  in  the  Vatican;  for  Leo  X,  who  succeeded  him,  encouraged  art  and  learning 
with  still  greater  intelligence  than  Julius,  and  immediately  extended  his  patronage  to 
Raphael.  No  break,  therefore,  occurred  in  the  plan  that  the  old  pope  had  proposed; 
only  in  honor  of  the  new  pope,  Raphael's  two  next  frescoes,  "The  Delivery  of  St 
Peter  from  Prison,"  and  "The  Vision  of  Attila,"  had  direct  reference  to  the  personal 
history  of  Leo — "The  Deliverance  of  St  Peter"  referring  to  the  Cardinal  de  Medici's 
escape  from  prison  after  the  battle  of  Ravenna,  and  the  Attila  being  suggested  by  the 
retreat  of  the  French  from  Italy  in  the  same  year. 

Among  Raphael's  other  famous  works  of  the  Roman  period  are  the  Cartoons  so 
well  known  to  all  students.     Leo  X,  wishing  still  further  to  decorate  the  Sistine  chapel, 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL.  39 


where  Michael  Angelo  had  already  produced  his  mighty  prophets  and  sibyls,  as  well  as 
the  history  of  creation,  on  the  ceiling,  desired  that  the  walls  should  be  hung  with  tapestry 
woven  in  the  famed  looms  of  Arras,  in  Flanders.  Raphael  was  accordingly  called  on 
to  prepare  the  designs  or  cartoons  for  the  weavers.  There  were  originally  ten  of  these 
cartoons,  and  an  eleventh  intended  for  an  altar-piece,  representing  the  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin,  but  only  seven  now  remain,  and,  indeed,  it  is  wonderful  that  any  should  remain, 
considering  the  various  vicissitudes  and  shameful  ill-treatment  to  which  they  had  been 
subjected.  The  original  tapestries,  ten  in  number,  now  hang  in  the  Vatican,  but  they 
are  greatly  injured  and  badly  restored,  and  so  faded  that  the  effect  of  the  coloring  is 
quite  lost.  This  makes  the  cartoons  all  the  more  valuable,  for  in  them  Raphael's  genius 
still  stands  forth  in  all  its  surprising  power.  "The  Miraculous  Draught  of  Fishes," 
indeed,  is  admitted  by  almost  all  authorities  to  bear  the  direct  evidence  of  Raphael's 
own  hand  having  been  at  work  upon  it ;  and  many  of  the  grand  figures  and  expressive 
countenances  in  the  other  cartoons,  such  as  "The  Lame  Man  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of 
the  Temple,"  and  the  Christ,  St.  Peter  and  St.  John  in  the  charge  to  Peter,  were 
doubtless  painted  by  him;  though  for  the  most  part  we  must  suppose  that  the  execu- 
tion of  these  large  cartoons  from  the  small  drawings  that  Raphael  in  the  first  instance 
made  for  them  was  left  to  his  pupils. 

Many  of  his  most  beautiful  Madonna  pictures  belong  to  the  later  Roman  period — 
easel  pictures  and  altar-pieces  executed  in  the  intervals  of  his  vast  monumental  works. 
"  The  Holy  Family,"  known  by  the  name  of  "  The  Pearl,"  the  treasure  of  the  Madrid 
gallery;  the  magnificent  Madonna  di  Fuligno,  painted  in  1511,  now  in  the  Vatican;  the 
ever-lovely  St.  Cecilia,  of  which  Francia  took  charge ;  the  well-known  Madonna  della 
Sedia,  painted  in  1 5 1 6,  now  in  the  Pitti  Palace  at  Florence ;  the  Madonna  del  Pesce  at 
Madrid ;  the  Holy  Family  of  the  Louvre ;  the  Madonna  of  the  Aldobrandini  family, 
now  called  the  Garvagh  Raphael,  in  the  English  National  Gallery;  and  numerous  other 
Madonnas,  many  of  which  were  doubtless  executed  by  his  pupils,  are  all  referred  to  the 
last  few  years  of  his  life,  when  the  sentiment  he  had  gained  from  Umbria  was  expressed 
with  the  intellectual  knowledge  of  Florence  and  the  calm  power  of  Rome.  Last  and 
greatest  of  all  his  Madonnas  is  the  world-famed  Madonna  di  San  Sisto,  the  glory  of 
the  Dresden  Gallery.  Constantly  as  we  see  reproductions  of  this  marvelous  work,  it 
ever  gleams  upon  us  like  some  vision  of  heavenly  beauty.  Surrounded  by  a  glory  of 
exquisite  angel-heads,  the  Virgin  stands  in  simple  majesty  on  the  clouds,  with  the  Child 
enthroned  upon  her  arm.  She  looks  forth  into  infinity  with  no  shade  of  sorrow  on  her 
countenance  such  as  Raphael  has  sometimes  cast  into  his  representations  of  her  as  the 
earthly  mother,  but  as  if  now  beholding  the  meaning  of  those  things  she  had  "  pondered 
in  her   heart"  on    earth.     The    Child   also   has   a    supernatural  beauty  that  we  can    only 


40 


AfASTERP/ECES   OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


express  by  the  word  divine.  "It  is,"  writes  Liibke,  "as  if  Raphael  had  wished  to  com- 
bine in  this  incomparable  creation  his  deepest  thoughts,  his  most  sublime  ideas  and  his 
most  perfect  beauty,  that  it  might   be   and  might   remain  the   highest   production  of  all 


From  Ik*  original. 


VENUS  AND  VULCAN. 


tr  Gimlio  Romano. 


religious  art"  The  San  Sisto  Madonna  was  painted  about  1518,  when  the  painter's 
brilliant  but  short  summer-life  was  drawing  towards  its  close.  To  the  same  time  belong 
two  other  grand  altar-pieces,  in  which  his  dramatic  powers  are  more  fully  displayed — 
namely,  "  Lo  Spasimo  di  Sicilia,"  or  "  Christ  bearing  the  Cross,"  now  at  Madrid ;  and 
"The  Transfiguration,"    painted   in    rivalry  with   Sebastian   del    Piombo.  which   was   still 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


4i 


unfinished  at  the  time  of  his  death,  and  was  placed  as  a  fitting  memorial  at  the  head 
of  his  bier,  whilst  his  body  lay  in  state  in  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  della  Rotondo. 
He  died  on    his    birthday,  the  6th   of  April,   1520,  after   a    short  illness    caused  by  cold 


followed  by  fever.  He 
was  never  married,  but 
was  betrothed  for  some 
time  to  a  niece  of  the 
Cardinal  Bibiena.  She 
however  died  before  him. 
It  seems  certain  that  she 
was  not  the  beloved  one 
of  the  sonnets,  for  in  a 
letter  to  his  uncle  he 
speaks  of  the  Bibiena  al- 
liance as  if  it  were  a 
mere  matter  of  business. 

The  sorrow  caused 
by  Raphael's  death  was 
felt  by  all  classes  of  so- 
ciety in  Rome.  "  No 
eye,"  says  Vasari,  "was 
tearless  at  his  burial," 
and  Count  Castiglione 
wrote  to  his  mother, 
some  months  afterwards, 
"I  am  well,  but  I  cannot 
fancy  myself  in  Rome 
now  that  my  poor  dear 
Raphael  is  no  longer 
here." 

His  delicate  beauty, 
as  we  see  it  in  the  por- 
trait supposed  to  be  his 
own,  must  have  gone  far 


PERSEUS. 


to  win  men's  hearts;  but 
he  preserved  their  love 
by  the  goodness  of  his 
nature  and  the  fasci- 
nating charm  of  his  so- 
ciety. 

Giulio  Romano  was 
an  artist  of  great  talent 
and  of  considerable  fer- 
tility of  invention.  Dur- 
ing Raphael's  lifetime  he 
copied  his  style  so  closely 
that  it  requires  a  good 
judge  to  tell  the  work 
of  the  pupil  from  that  of 
the  master,  and  in  the 
frescoes  of  the  Sala  di 
Constantino,  also,  which 
he  executed  after  Ra- 
phael's death  from  his 
drawings,  the  same  close 
resemblance  to  Raphael's 
style  is  apparent.  But 
very  soon  after  this  he 
broke  loose  from  the 
restraint  that  Raphael's 
pure  style  had  imposed 
upon  him,  and  indulged 
in  the  riotous  imagina- 
tions of  his  own  mind. 
His  taste  became,  indeed, 


utterly  depraved,  and  his  classicism  followed   not  the  severe  art  of  ancient  Greece,  but 
the  debased  art  of  the  Roman  period,  the  art  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum. 

In   1524  he  was  summoned  to  Mantua  by  the  Marquis  Federigo  Gonzaga,  in  whose 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


service  he  passed  the  rest  of  his  life,  directing  works  in  architecture  as  well  as  painting. 
In  the  frescoes  of  the  Palazzo  del  Te  that  he  built  and  decorated  for  his  patron,  his 
unbridled  style  is  more  fully  displayed  than  in  any  other  of  his  works.  These  frescoes 
are  often,  it  may  be  admitted,  powerful  in  conception  and  rich  in  invention;  but  there 
is  a  coarseness  of  mind  apparent  in  them  that  it  is  peculiarly  unpleasant  to  find  in  the 
pupil  of  the  refined  Raphael.  Eastlake  speaks  of  many  of  these  frescoes  as  being 
"decidedly  bad"  and  "uselessly  indecorous,"  and  in  others,  such  as  the  well-known 
"Overthrow  of  the  Giants,"  the  style  of  Michael  Angelo  is  carried  to  an  immoderate 
excess.  His  simpler  decorative  works  are  much  more  pleasing.  They  have  generally 
a  charming  antique  grace  and  beauty.  But,  in  spite  of  this  antique  grace,  Giulio 
Romano  did  more  to  hasten  the  fall  of  art,  which  proceeded  with  terrible  swiftness  after 
the  death  of  Raphael,  than  any  other  artist,  for  he  had  an  immense  number  of  scholars 
and  assistants,  all  of  whom  copied  the  vicious  qualities  of  his  art,  rather  than  its  excel- 
lences, and,  without  his  faculty  of  invention,  attempted  similar  flights  of  pagan  fancy 
with  miserable  results.  Primaticcio  has  the  glory  of  having  imported  Giulio's  style  into 
France,  where  he  decorated  the  palace  of  Fontainbleau  for  Francis  I. 

Benvenuto  Cellini,  a  worker  in  metal,  was  born  in  Florence  when  Raphael  was 
still  a  youth  in  the  studio  of  Perugino.  He  early  exhibited  a  taste  for  sculpture,  and 
the  works  in  gold  and  silver  in  the  antique  style  were  greatly  admired.  The  chief 
events  of  his  life  are  related  in  his  own  biography,  in  which  he  describes  the  progress 
of  his  career  as  a  silversmith  and  a  sculptor  from  his  apprenticeship  with  the  goldsmith 
Marcone,  in  Florence,  to  his  great  successes  in  Rome,  Florence  and  Paris.  He  pro- 
duced a  medal  with  a  portrait  of  Clement  VII,  "so  life-like  that  it  seemed  to  breathe,'' 
and  at  Florence  he  executed  a  gold  medal  with  the  device  of  Hercules  tearing  open 
the  jaws  of  the  Nemean  lion.  Hra  masterpiece  in  sculpture  is  the  bronze  statue  of 
"Perseus,  with  the  head  of  Medusa,"  now  in  the  Loggia  de  Lauzi  at  Florence. 

While  at  Paris,  whither  he  had  gone  at  the  invitation  of  Francis  I,  he  commenced 
some  fine  works ;  but  he  got  into  trouble  with  the  queen's  favorite,  Madame  d'Etampes, 
and  he  obtained  permission  to  return  to  Italy. 

Cellini  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  various  branches  of  his  art.  It  is  highly  praised  by 
Vasari,  and  bears  incontestable  evidence  of  his  original  and  comprehensive  genius.  He 
died  at  Florence  in  1570,  at  the  age  of  threescore  and  ten,  and  was  buried  with  great 
pomp  in  the  Nunziata. 

The  blooming  time  of  Italian  art  in  Florence  and  Rome,  even  before  the  death  of 
Michael  Angelo,  who  survived,  so  to  speak,  his  age,  drew  to  its  close.  Before  the  death 
of  Raphael,  indeed,  symptoms  of  decay  had  begun  to  show  themselves,  and  these 
increased  -so  rapidly  that  by  the  end  of  the  century  the  art  of  Leonardo,  Raphael  and 


CARLO   DOLCI.PINXT 


F   BAL  .   SCULP' 


M  A 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL.  43 


Michael  Angelo  lay  dead  in  the  dust.     These  artists  had   no   successors.     It  seemed  as 
though  they  had  reached  the  perfection  of  art,  and  from  them  only  decline  was  possible. 
We  must  now  turn  to  the  north  of  Italy,  and  watch  the  flower  of  Italian  art  unfold- 
ing, blooming  and  declining  in  a  similar  manner  there. 

Venetian  painting  was  considerably  later  than  Florentine  in  its  development.  The 
influence  of  Giotto  was,  indeed,  less  felt  in  Venice  than  almost  any  other  city  of  Italy, 
and  the  Byzantine  style,  or  "Greek  manner,"  as  Vasari  calls  it,  continued  in  favor  until 
far  into  the  fifteenth  century — such  artists  as  Jacobello  del  Fiore,  Negroponte,  Donato, 
and  Giambono,  although  called  sometimes  early  Venetians,  being,  strictly  speaking,  only 
Venetio-Byzantine  painters.  It  was  not,  in  fact,  until  Antonello  da  Messina  (141 4  to 
about  1478)  introduced  into  Italy  the  Flemish  method  of  oil-painting,  that  he  had  learned 
in  the  school  of  the  Van  Eycks,  that  the  true  color  school  of  Venice  can  be  said  to 
have  been  really  founded. 

The  brilliancy  and  richness  of  oil-painting  seem  from  the  first  to  have  been  pecu- 
liarly attractive  to  the  Venetian  taste,  and  no  sooner  was  the  secret  of  Van  Eyck's 
invention  known  in  Italy  than  his  method  was  almost  universally  adopted.  Antonello 
has  the  reputation  of  having  first  taught  the  Venetians  the  Flemish  method,  which 
evidently,  by  the  enthusiasm  which  it  excited,  was  an  immense  improvement  on  all  that 
had  preceded  it. 

Vasari  gives  a  most  graphic  and  interesting  account  of  Antonello's  proceedings, 
only,  unfortunately,  as  is  usual  with  the  old  chronicler,  he  has  blundered  fearfully  in  his 
facts,  from  his  easy  habit  of  setting  down  every  anecdote  that  was  related  to  him, 
without  taking  the  trouble  to  verify  it.  Antonello,  he  says,  "a  man  of  lively  genius,  of 
much  sagacity,  and  of  considerable  experience  in  his  calling,"  having  heard  of  a  picture 
that  Alfonso,  king  of  Naples  *  had  received  from  Flanders  painted  in  oils  by  Jan  Van 
Eyck,  obtained  leave  to  see  it,  and  was  so  forcibly  impressed  by  the  vivacity,  beauty 
and  harmony  of  its  coloring,  that,  laying  aside  all  other  business,  he  at  once  repaired 
to  Flanders,  where  he  sought  the  acquaintance  of  Jan  Van  Eyck,  and  learned  from  him, 
apparently  without  any  jealous  difficulty  being  thrown  in  his  way,  the  whole  secret  of 
his  process. 

Returning  first  to  Messina,  but  soon  after  settling  in  Venice,  it  soon  became  known 
that  he  had  brought  the  Flemish  secret  back  with  him,  and  his  society  was  greatly 
courted,  not  only  by  artists,  but  by  "the  magnificent  nobles  of  Venice,  by  whom  he  was 
much  beloved  and  amicably  treated." 

•  Alfonso  did  not  begin  to  reign  until  1442,  two  years  after  Jan  Van  Eyck's  death.      It  could  not  therefore,  have  been  he.      It  was 
probably  his  predecessor,  the  unfortunate  Ren£  of  Anjou,  himself  a  painter  as  well  as  a  poet,  to  whom  this  picture  belonged. 


44 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Beyond  all  other  early  Venetians,  however,  the  Bellini  are  the  representatives  of 
Venetian  art  at  this  time,  and  must  be  reckoned  as  the  founders  of  its  true  greatness. 

Jacopo  Bellini  (born  about  1400,  died  1470),  the  father  of  the  more  renowned 
Gentile  and  Giovanni,  was  a  pupil  of  Gentile  da  Fabriano,  a  master  of  the  early  part 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  who  resided  for  some  time  at  Venice,  and  appears  to  have 
exercised  a   considerable  influence  over  early  Venetian  art.      Jacopo  Bellini  is  perhaps 


more  important 
as  the  father 
and  teacher  of 
Gentile  and  Gi- 
ovanni, than  as 
an  independent 
master,  but  he 
is  spoken  of  by 
Vasari  as  hav- 
ing been  held  in 
high  repute  in 
his  day.  Unfor- 
tunately.scarce- 
ly  one  authen- 
tic painting  by 
him  is  preserv- 
ed. 
Gentile  Bel- 

LINl(l42I-I507) 

probably  ex- 
celled his  father 
as  much  as  he 
in  turn  was  ex- 


Btnvtnuto  Cellini. 


younger  broth- 
er, .  Giovanni. 
This  we  are  told 
was  what  the 
good  father  de- 
sired, who  "en- 
couraged his 
sons,  constant- 
ly telling  them 
that  he  desired 
to  see  them  do 
as  did  the  Flor- 
entines, who 
were  perpetu- 
ally striving 
among  them- 
selves to  carry 
off  the  palm 
of  distinction 
by  outstripping 
each  other,  that 
so  he  would 
have  Giovanni 
surpass  himself, 


celled    by    his 

whilst  Gentile  should  vanquish  them  both." 

It  was,  however,  Giovanni  who  "vanquished  them  both,"  but  Gentile  also  accom- 
plished excellent  work  in  his  day.  Both  brothers  were  highly  esteemed  in  Venice,  and 
in  1474  Gentile  was  honored  by  the  government  with  a  commission  to  decorate  the 
Great  Hall  of  Council  of  the  Ducal  Palace  with  frescoes,  representing  events  of 
Venetian  history.  Gentile  da  Fabriano  had  before  this  executed  some  frescoes  in  this 
Hall;   but  it  appears  that  they  had  already  fallen  into  decay,  when  his  godchild,  Gentile 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


45 


Bellini,  was  appointed  to  "  renew  and  restore  them."     The  two  brothers  worked  together, 
and  accomplished  some  great  works,  all  of  which,  however,  perished  by  fire  in  1577. 

The  most  important  works  that  now  remain  by  Gentile  are  the  pictures  in  the 
academy  at  Venice,  representing  "The  Miracles  of  the  Cross."  In  one,  a  fragment  of 
the  true  Cross,  borne  in  solemn  procession,  effects  a  miraculous  cure,  and  in  the  other 
the   same  fragment,  having   fallen  into   the   canal,  can   only  be   recovered  by  the  hands 


of  the  pious 
brother  Andrea 
Vendramin. 

The  name  of 
Giovanni  Bel- 
lini (1426-1516) 
stands  at  the 
head  of  that 
great  cluster  of 
painters  who  in 
the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  cen- 
turies illumined 
the  dark  walls 
of  the  churches 
and  palaces  of 
Venice  with  a 
glorious  reve- 
lation of  color 
to  which  no  pre- 
vious masters 
had  ever  at- 
tained. Yet,  in 
the      first     in- 


Titian. 


stance,  Giovan- 
ni as  well  as 
Gentile  was 
much  influenced 
by  Mantegna, 
whose  chief 
characteristic 
was,  as  we  have 
seen,  form  and 
not  color.  It 
was  not,  indeed, 
until  after  he 
had  adopted  the 
new  method  of 
oil-painting  that 
the  original 
qualities  of  his 
genius  became 
apparent.  His 
greatest  works 
all  belong  to 
the  later  period 
of  his  life,  for, 
unlike       most 


painters  his  art  knew  no  stand-point,  but  went  on  progressing  even  in  his  great  old 
age,  when,  in  fact,  he  still  continued  learning  from  the  pupils  he  had  formed.  No 
decrease  of  power  is  shown  even  in  his  latest  works,  many  of  which  were  painted  after 
he  had  attained  the  age  of  eighty,  and  in  warmth  and  splendor  of  color  many  of  them 
rival  even  Titian. 

Venice,  whatever  other  crimes  she   may  have  been  guilty  of,  cannot  be  accused  of 
having  neglected  her  painters.     Giovanni  Bellini,  especially,  was  revered  by  all,  and  his 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


society  courted  by  the  highest  in  the  state,  as  well  as  by  most  of  the  painters,  men  of 
letters  and  collectors  of  the  time.  Ariosto  has  celebrated  him  in  his  verse,  and  the 
celebrated  Pietro  Bembo  wrote  rapturous  sonnets  upon  his  portrait  of  his  mistress. 
Albrecht  Diirer  also,  who  visited  Venice  in  1507,  speaks  of  him  in  one  of  his  letters 
as  "very  old,  but  the  best  painter  of  them  all." 

Giorgio  Bakbarelli,  called  Giorgione,  because  of  the  greatness  of  his  stature  (born 
1477,  died  151 1),  is  reckoned  by  Ruskin  as  one  of  the  "seven  supreme  colorists  of  the 
world,"*  and  truly,  from  what  tradition  tells  us  of  his  pictures,  they  must  in  their  first 
beauty  have  been  miracles  of  glowing  loveliness.  Unhappily,  his  greatest  works  were 
executed  in  fresco  on  the  walls  of  the  palaces  at  Venice,  and  even  in  Vasari's  time 
were  already  falling  into  decay.  Now,  effaced  by  time  and  the  salt  damps  of  the  lagoon, 
scarcely  a  trace  of  them  exists. 

Born  at  Castelfranco,  in  the  province  of  Treviso,  Giorgione  came  to  Venice  at  an 
eariy  age,  and  entered  the  school  of  the  Bellini,  where  he  and  Titian,  who  was  his  fellow- 
student,  soon  asserted  their  superiority,  and  became,  so  to  speak,  the  masters  of  the 
master,  for  undoubtedly  Bellini's  genius  in  his  later  years  was  stimulated  to  ever  nobler 
exertions  by  the  works  of  his  great  pupils.  Their  influence  over  each  other  is  still 
more  apparent,  although  their  minds  were  of  a  different  stamp,  and  their  view  of  human 
life  dissimilar.  Giorgione,  who  witnessed  in  early  life  the  noble  resistance  that  his 
country,  and  especially  his  own  province,  Treviso,  made  to  the  invader,  naturally  con- 
ceived an  admiration  for  the  military  rather  than  the  ascetic  type  of  character,  and 
accordingly  we  find  the  "Heroic  Ideal,"  as  it  has  been  called,  prevailing  in  his  works. 
It  is  not  so  much  beautiful  women  as  powerful  women  that  he  delights  to  paint,  and 
his  heroes  are  generally  of  the  martial  type.  Titian,  it  is  true,  has  likewise  exalted  the 
heroic  type  in  many  of  his  works,  but  his  heroes  are  simply  historic,  whereas  Giorgione's, 
even  when  they  are  portraits,  are  distinctly  ideal.  One  of  his  earlier  works  was  a 
Madonna  altar-piece,  for  the  church  of  his  native  town,  Castelfranco,  a  painting  that  has 
happily  escaped  the  fate  of  so  many  of  his  works.  The  Madonna  is  here  represented 
between  St  Liberale  and  St.  Francis,  and  the  sketch  for  the  noble  young  figure  of  St 
Liberale  is  now  in  the  National  Gallery,  London. 

Giorgione's  skill  in  fresco-painting  was  first  put  forth,  it  is  said,  on  the  front  of  his 
own  house,  which  he  adorned  with  beautiful  frescoes.  After  this,  in  1504,  he  was  com- 
missioned, conjointly  with  Titian,  to  paint  the  exterior  of  the  Fondaco  de  Tedcschi,  or 
Hall  of  Exchange  of  the  German  merchants  in  Venice. 

Ridolfi  tells  us  that  he  died  of  a  broken  heart,  in  consequence  of  the  unfaithfulness 
of  his  mistress,  who  deserted  him  for  his  friend  and  pupil,  Morto  da  Feltri.     Vasari  also 

•  The  other  lii  being  Titian,  Veronese,  Tintoret,  Correggio.  Reynolds,  and  Turner. 


GUIDO,  PIHXT 


C.SHENTON.    FINISHED  BY  H   BOURNE. 


THE    DEATH    OF     CLEOPATRA. 


\.»B'<A( 


■^NIV£RSITT 

£AUFon*& 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  4? 


speaks  of  his  fondness  for  "love  passages,"  and  hints  at  a  similar  cause  for  his  death 
to  that  which  he  carelessly  assigns  for  Raphael's.  It  is,  however,  tolerably  certain  that 
whether  broken-hearted  or  not,  Giorgione  died  of  the  plague  in  151 1. 

A  master  who  came  very  near  to  the  highest  point  of  Venetian  greatness,  but  who 
just  fell  below  the  surpassing  excellence  of  Giorgione  and  Titian,  was  Jacopo  Palma,  or 
Palma  Vecchio,  as  he  was  called,  to  distinguish  him  from  a  younger  painter,  his  nephew 
of  the  same  name  (born  probably  about  1480;  died,  according  to  Vasari,  at  the  age  of 
forty-eight).  Although  influenced,  like  almost  every  master  of  his  time,  by  the  seductive 
Giorgione,  he  yet  preserved  a  thoroughly  independent  position.  His  pictures  have  not 
indeed  the  coarse  power  of  Pordenone's,  but  they  have  a  soft  sensuous  beauty,  never 
falling  into  sensuality,  which  is  peculiarly  attractive.  Strange  to  say,  although  tempted, 
one  might  suppose,  by  his  exquisite  perception  of  female  loveliness,  we  have  scarcely 
any  mythological  subjects  by  his  hand — no  naked  goddesses  or  nymphs.  He  simply 
painted  the  daughters  of  Venice  in  their  own  splendid  and  voluptuous  beauty,  without 
idealizing  them  or  spiritualizing  them  in  the  least.  The  enchanting  Graces  of  the 
Dresden  Gallery,  so  well  known  by  engravings,  and  considered  to  be  the  daughters  of 
the  master,  exhibit  his  powers  in  their  highest  perfection.  The  magnificent  female 
portrait,  known  as  "La  Bella  di  Tiziano,"  in  the  Sciarra  Gallery  at  Rome,  though  ascribed 
to  Titian,  is  now  generally  supposed  to  be  by  him.  His  Madonnas  and  Saints  are  of 
the  same  ripe  type  of  human  beauty  as  his  female  portraits. 

We  now  come  to  the  greatest  of  the  Venetians,  the  greatest  painter  perhaps,  con- 
sidered only  as  a  painter,  of  all  time ;  for  whilst  Leonardo,  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo 
claim  our  reverence  as  artists,  and  by  the  beauty  and  nobility  of  the  ideas  that  they  set 
forth  in  their  works,  Titian  calls  forth  our  admiration  by  the  magnificence  of  his  language 
alone,  independently  of  the  thoughts  expressed  in  it.  He  remains,  therefore,  the  supreme 
painter — master  of  the  art  of  laying  color — of  Italy;  and  after  his  day,  painters  could 
desire  nothing  more  than  "the  drawing  of  Michael  Angelo  and  the  coloring  of 
Titian." 

Tiziano  Vecellio  (born  at  Cadore,  in  the  Friuli,  in  1477;  died  at  Venice,  1576) 
entered  the  school  of  Giovanni  Bellini  shortly  after  Giorgione,  and  quickly  deserted  the 
religious  traditions  of  the  teacher,  to  follow  the  more  brilliant  and  daring  style  of  his 
fellow-student,  who  had  already  achieved  success.  Titian's  early  works  so  closely 
resemble  those  of  Giorgione,  that  critics  often  disagree  as  to  the  master  to  whom  they 
belong.  Indeed,  had  Giorgione  lived  to  the  same  ripe  age  as  Titian,  it  would  probably 
have  been  difficult  to  tell  which  was  the  greatest  master  of  the  two,  but  Giorgione's 
early  death  left  Titian  to  pursue  the  road  to  perfection  without  a  rival. 

The  frescoes   already  mentioned,  that  he   executed   with   Giorgione,  on  the  outside 


48 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Hi  triginal. 


TITIAN'S   CHRIST   CROWNED   WITH   THORNS 


•it  Mil**. 


of  the   Fondaco  de  Tedeschi,  brought   him   early  fame,  but  caused,   so  Vasari  states,  a 
jealous  feeling  in  Giorgione's  mind,  which  separated  the  two  friends.     After   Giorgione's 


B  .  MEUNIER    SCULPT 


_::;     ¥OIM    OF     3  A  MARIA  o 


\_\  B  '.  A  , 


X7NlV£RSlTy 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


49 


death,  Titian  continued  these  frescoes  alone,  but  all  have  now  unfortunately  perished. 
In  1 514  he  was  invited  by  Alfonso  I,  Uuke  of  Ferrara,  to  his  brilliant  court,  where  he 
formed  a  lasting  friendship  with  Ariosto,  who  has  celebrated  him  in  his  immortal  poem. 


For  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara,  Titian 
painted  two  of 
the  most  cele- 
brated of  his 
early  works — 
"  The  Tribute 
Money"  and 
"  Bacchus  and 
Ariadne."  Be- 
sides these  and 
several  allegor- 
ical composi- 
tions, he  like- 
wise executed 
at  this  period 
the  well-known 
picture  in  the 
Louvre,to  which 
the  title  of  "Ti- 
tian and  his 
Mistress"  has 
been  given,  but 
which    is   more 


Paul  Veronese. 


probably  the 
portraits  of  Al- 
fonso and  his 
second  wife, 
Laura* 

His  powers 
were  now  fully 
developed,  and 
his  coloring  be- 
came, as  Kug- 
ler  says,  "the 
expression  of 
life  itself."  No- 
thing, in  fact,  in 
painting,  trans- 
cends its  deep 
glory  of  gold 
and  purple,  and 
its  glow  of  light 
and  heat:  it  is 
as  unfathom- 
able as  the  life 
it  expresses. 
The  beauty  and 


significance  of  color  had,  as  we  have  seen,  for  a  long  time,  been  revealing  itself  to  the 
minds  of  the  Venetians.  Bellini  had  expressed  himself  in  pure  and  tender  tones ; 
Giorgione's  poetic  nature  revealed  itself  in  more  striking  and  brilliant  chords.  Porde- 
none  had  struck  the  keys  with  coarse  power,  and  Palma  Vecchio  with  mild  sweetness ; 
but  it  was  reserved  for  Titian  to  bring  out  the  full  harmonies  of  the  whole  gamut  of 
color.  This  he  played  upon  as  no  master  ever  before  or  since  has  done,  producing  no 
startling  effects,  no  vivid  surprises,  but  simply  the  life-tones  of  nature,  especially  as  seen 
pulsating  in  the  naked  human  form.  For  now  once  more  in  the  history  of  art  the 
representation  of  the   nude  became,  as   formerly  in  ancient   Greece,  the  highest  aim  of 


*  His  first  wife  was  the  notorious  Lucrezia  Borgia. 


50  AfASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

painters.  It  was  beauty  only,  not  religion,  that  was  now  demanded  of  painters,  and 
sensuous,  indeed  I  might  say  sensual  beauty  was  naturally  better  understood  and  appre- 
ciated in  a  city  like  Venice,  where  vice  and  (immorality  reigned  unchecked,  than  that 
higher  spiritual  beauty,  after  which  the  early  religious  painters  strove.  The  nude  accord- 
ingly rose  into  favor.  Michael  Angelo  gave  it  its  most  scientific,  Titian  its  most  sensuous 
expression.  Like  the  Greek  painters,  he  sought  to  represent  human  life  in  its  full 
enjoyment  and  animal  perfection.  Even  his  Madonnas  have  no  existence  above  this 
earth,  and  his  Venuses  are  simply  splendid  women,  whose  loveliness  is  enhanced  by  the 
subtle  charms  of  the  artist's  coloring.  Titian's  art,  it  is  true,  was  a  glorification  and  not 
a  degradation  of  human  beauty ;  still  it  is  easy  to  see  the  tendency  of  such  a  mode  of 
expression. 

Whilst  at  Rome  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Michael  Angelo,  and  of  Michael 
Angelo's  biographer,  Vasari,  who  has  left  on  record  the  great  Florentine's  judgment  of 
the  great  Venetian.  "Now,  it  chanced,"  writes  Vasari,  "that  Michelagnolo  and  Vasari 
going  one  day  to  see  Titian,  in  the  Belvedere,  beheld  a  picture  which  he  had  just  then 
finished,  of  a  nude  figure  of  Danae,  with  Jupiter  transformed  into  a  shower  of  gold  in 
her  lap.  Many  of  those  present  began  to  praise  the  work  highly,  as  people  do  when 
the  artist  stands  by,  and  Buonaroti  talking  of  Titian's  work,  when  all  had  left  the  place, 
declared  that  the  manner  and  coloring  of  that  artist  pleased  him  greatly,  but  that  it  was 
a  pity  that  the  Venetians  did  not  study  drawing  more,  'for  if,'  he  added,  'this  artist  had 
been  aided  by  art  and  a  knowledge  of  design,  as  he  is  by  nature,  he  would  have  pro- 
duced works  which  none  could  surpass.'  " 

Of  Titian's  domestic  life  little  is  known ;  he  appears  to  have  been  married  about 
1 5 12,  but  to  have  lost  his  wife  before  1530.  He  had  three  children — a  profligate  and 
worthless  son,  named  Pomponio;  Orazio  Vecellio,  a  portrait-painter;  and  a  daughter 
named  Lavinia,  who  still  lives  for  us  in  the  magnificent  portraits  that  her  father  has  left 
of  her,  under  various  impersonations.  One  of  the  finest  of  these  is  that  in  the  Berlin 
Museum,  where  the  splendidly  attired  girl  is  holding  up  a  plate  of  fruit 

He  was  already  seventy-three  years  of  age  when  his  last  interview  took  place  with 
Charles  V.  at  Augsburg.  The  painter  was  at  that  time  almost  as  great  a  man  as  the 
Emperor,  who,  according  to  the  well-known  story,  picked  up  his  pencil,  and  replied  to 
his  apologies,  by  affirming  that  "a  Titian  was  worthy  of  being  served  by  a  Caesar." 

Although  Titian  was  an  old  man  at  this  time  of  triumph,  he  had  still  many  long 
years  of  life  before  him,  and  some  even  of  his  greatest  works  were  painted  after  this 
date.  It  was  not,  indeed,  until  after  he  had  attained  his  ninetieth  year  that  his  hand 
lost  its  accustomed  power.  Even  then  his  princely  mode  of  life  was  maintained,  for  we 
learn  that  when  Henry  III.  passed  through  Venice   he   was  magnificently  entertained  bv 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  51 


Titian  at  his  own  house,  and  that  on  the  departure  of  the  royal  guest,  his  munificent 
host  presented  him  with  all  the  pictures  that  had  called  forth  his  admiration. 

Vasari,  who  visited  Venice  in  1566,  relates  that  he  found  the  patriarch  still  with 
pencils  in  his  hand  and  painting  busily,  and  "great  pleasure  had  Vasari  in  beholding  his 
works  and  in  conversation  with  the  master."  Finally,  this  marvelously  prolonged  and 
successful  life  came  to  a  close  in  1576,  when  Titian,  in  the  hundredth  year  of  his  age, 
fell  a  victim  to  the  plague  that  broke  out  in  that  year.  His  son  Orazio  died  of  the 
same  disease  during  the  same  outbreak.  Such  was  the  universal  terror  that  prevailed 
at  this  time  that  even  burial  in  the  churehes  was  denied  to  those  who  died  of  the 
plague;  but  this  precaution  was  set  aside  in  the  case  of  Titian,  who  was  honorably 
interred  in  the  church  of  the  Frari,  for  which  he  had  so  long  before  painted  his  famous 
"Assumption." 

It  would  be  impossible  here  to  enumerate  even  the  most  famous  of  Titian's  famous 
works.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  they  may  be  found  in  almost  every  important  gallery — 
that  the  Louvre  contains  no  less  than  eighteen  examples,  including  the  noble  "Crowning 
with  Thorns,"  formerly  at  Milan;  "The  Entombment,"  a  replica  of  that  in  the  Manfrini 
Palace;  and  the  Jupiter  and  Antiope,  known  as  "The  Venus  del  Pardo" — that  the 
Dresden  Gallery  has  not  only  "The  Tribute  Money,"  but  a  charming  Holy  Family  with 
saints,  and  a  Venus  crowned  by  Love,  of  exquisite  beauty  of  flesh,  and  several  other 
lesser  works — that  Munich  has  seven  paintings,  principally  portraits;  Vienna,  the  great 
"Ecce  Homo,"  several  portraits,  and  other  small  works;  Madrid,  most  of  the  master- 
pieces painted  for  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II,  including  the  Diana  and  Callisto ;  and  that 
the  English  National  collection,  besides  the  Bacchus  and  Ariadne,  and  the  Madonna 
with  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Catherine,  examples  of  his  earlier  period,  has  the 
splendid  portrait  of  Ariosto,  equal  in  character  and  color  to  almost  any  portrait  by  his 
hand.     The  Bridgewater  Gallery  likewise  contains  one  of  his  celebrated  Venuses. 

Although  Titian  had  few  real  pupils — not  having,  as  Vasari  tells  us,  "the  disposition 
to  instruct  disciples,  even  though  encouraged  thereto  by  their  patience  and  good  con- 
duct"— yet,  as  might  be  expected,  he  had  a  great  number  of  followers,  who  all  more 
or  less  successfully  adopted  his  style  and  coloring,  and  produced  works  whose  rare  excel- 
lence can  only  be  attributed  to  his  powerful  and  beneficial  influence.  In  no  other  school, 
except  perhaps  that  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  do  the  works  of  the  lesser  men  approach  so 
near  to  the  greatness  of  the  master. 

Amongst  those  painters  who  were  more  immediately  under  Titian's  influence  may 
be  mentioned  Paris  Bordone  (i  500-1 571),  who,  in  the  exquisite  beauty  and  warm  life 
of  his  flesh-painting,  often  equals  Titian  himself.  His  female  portraits  are  splendid  rep- 
resentations of  the  proud,  passionate,  golden-haired,  voluptuous  beauties  of  Venice. 


5* 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


tht  trijinal. 


CHAMBER  OF  ST.  PAUL. 


ty  Corrtggia. 


Paolo  Cagliari,  usually  known  as  Paolo  Veronese  (born  1528,  died  1588),  was,  as 
his  name  implies,  a  native  of  Verona.  The  Veronese  school  had  for  some  time  past 
been  rising   into   note,  and   even   in   the   fifteenth   century  had   produced   such   men   as 


s  a 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  55 


famous  painters  then  working  in  Venice,  he  has  represented  as  present  at  "The  Marriage 
of  Cana."  This  celebrated  picture  is  so  well  known  that  it  needs  no  description.  Every 
one  has  formed  some  idea  of  the  painter's  gorgeous  style  and  coloring  from  it,  and 
no  better  example,  perhaps,  could  have  been  taken.  It  was  originally  painted  for  the 
refectory  of  the  convent  of  S.  Giorgio  Maggiore,  but   now  hangs  in  the  Louvre. 

Almost  comparable  to  "The  Marriage  of  Cana,"  in  point  of  size,  though  perhaps 
not  in  general  effect,  is  "The  Feast  of  the  Levite,"  of  the  Venetian  Academy.  "The 
Supper  at  Emmaus"  was  likewise  a  favorite  subject  with  this  master.  In  one  of  his 
representations  of  it — that,  namely,  in  the  Louvre — he  has  introduced  himself  and  his 
family  into  the  solemn  scene ;  two  of  his  little  girls  play  with  a  large  dog  at  the  very 
feet  of  the  Saviour.  Besides  his  festal  banqueting  scenes,  his  "Adorations  of  the  Magi," 
and  his  grand  altar  pieces,  generally  representing  some  stirring  biblical  or  legendary 
history,  Paolo  Veronese  has  likewise  painted  a  great  number  of  mythological  subjects, 
with  great  splendor  of  coloring,  but  without  much  taste.  He  is  wonderfully  well  repre- 
sented in  the  National  Gallery,  where  there  is  not  only  his  important  but  uninteresting 
"Family  of  Darius,"  but  one  of  his  Adorations,  and  a  splendidly  colored  "Consecration 
of  St.  Nicholas."  A  study  for  "The  Rape  of  Europa,"  which  subject  he  painted  several 
times,  is  also  in  the  Gallery.  He  died  in  Venice  shortly  before  Tintoretto,  and  a  few 
years  after  Titian.  His  brother  Benedetto,  his  son  Carlo,  and  a  painter  named  Bat- 
tista  Zelotti,  were  his  principal  followers.  They  signed  themselves  collectively  as  his 
heirs,  completed  his  unfinished  works,  and  executed  others  in  a  similar  style,  but  without 
his  power,  imagination  and  coloring. 

Another  great  master  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  stands  alone,  as  it  were,  amidst 
the  painters  of  his  time — but  who,  by  the  sensuous  character  of  his  art,  is  more  nearly 
allied  to  the  school  of  Venice  than  to  the  severer  intellectual  schools  of  Padua  or  Flor- 
ence, or  to  the  religious  school  of  Umbria — is  Antonio  Allegri  da  Correggio  (born 
1494,  died  1534).  "If,"  says  Herman  Grimm,  "we  were  to  imagine  streams  issuing 
from  the  minds  of  Raphael,  Michael  Angelo,  Leonardo,  and  Titian,  meeting  together  to 
form  a  new  mind,  Correggio  would  be  produced."  And  yet  his  genius  is  original,  and 
even  peculiar  in  character;  and  his  style — his  eigenart,  as  the  Germans  call  it — is 
thoroughly  individual.  Educated  in  one  of  the  schools  of  Lombardy,  where  Leonardo's 
influence  was  predominant,  he  owed  more  to  him,  undoubtedly,  than  to  any  other  master ; 
but  the  exquisite  grace  that  but  gives  an  additional  charm  to  Leonardo's  works  becomes, 
in  those  of  Correggio,  a  principal  feature.  The  intellectual  qualities  of  Leonardo's  art 
also  disappear,  and  the  sensuo'us  are  exaggerated.  But  what  above  all  else  distinguishes 
Correggio  from  every  other  painter  is  his  wonderful  understanding  of  chiaroscuro — his 
delicate  perception  of  the  minutest  gradations   of  light  and   shade.     Here  he  is  without 


56 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


a  rival.  He  has  no  lofty  ideal,  no  deep  thoughts  to  express;  but  his  works  diffuse  such 
a  marvelous  atmosphere  of  light  and  joy,  that  we  forget  altogether  to  criticise  them,  so 
penetrated  are  we  by  their  beauty.  His  figures  seem  to  live  in  the  serene  happiness 
of  a  golden  age,  unstained  by  sin  or  sorrow.     They  are  literally  bathed  in  soft  dreamy 


bliss  as  they 


"  Lie  reclined 
On  the  hilU  like  gixU  together,  careless  of  mankind," 


or  are  filled,  as  it  were,  with  passionate  rhythmical  movement 

The  popular  impression  of  the  hard  life  and  miserable  death  of  this  master,  derived 
from  Vasari,  and  upon  which  CEhlenschlager  founded  his  well-known  tragedy,  has  been 


long  known  to 
be  erroneous ; 
but  even  with 
the  most  care- 
ful research, 
very  little  con- 
cerning Cor- 
reggio's  out- 
ward circum- 
stances has 
been  gained. 
He  evidently 
moved  in  a  nar- 
row circle,  and 
unlike  the  great 
painters  of 
Rome  and  Ven- 
ice, was  little 
courted  by  the 
distinguished 
patrons  of  art 
and  other  ce- 
lebrities of  his 
time.    No  writ- 


From  Ik*  Ktifimal. 


tjr  Corrtggio. 


LEDA  AND  THE  SWAN. 


ings  by  his 
hand,  except  a 
few  receipts,  re- 
main, and  we 
have  scarcely 
any  mention  of 
him  by  his  con- 
temporaries. 
Even  Vasari, 
who  wrote  only 
twenty-two 
years  after  his 
death,  knew  so 
little  about  him 
that  he  filled  his 
life  of  him  with 
a  tissue  of  ab- 
surd stories, 
which,  although 
disproved  by 
several  writers 
of  credit,  were 
recklessly  re- 
peated by  many 


succeeding  biographers,  until  the  fable  of  his  misfortunes  gained  universal  acceptation ; 
whereas,  the  fact  seems  to  have  been  that,  although  not  the  flattered  favorite  of 
emperors  and  princes,  he  had  a  singularly  prosperous  and  happy  career.  His  father 
was  a   merchant  of  good   position   in   Correggio,  and  destined   his  son   for  a  learned 


\ 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


17 


career,  but  he  early  showed  a  taste  for  painting,  which  was,  probably,*  cultivated  by  his 
uncle,  Lorenzo  Allegri,  a  painter  of  Corregio,  otherwise  unknown  to  fame. 


In  1 5 14,  when  he  was  only  twenty  years  of  age, 
he  had  already  executed  the  large  altar-piece  of  the 
Madonna  with  Saints,  in  the  Dresden  Gallery.  This 
was  painted  for  the  Franciscan  convent  at  Correggio, 
for  the  sum  of  one  hundred  ducats,  equal  to  about 
seventy-five  dollars  of  our  money.  In  1518  he  was 
called   to   Parma,  where   more   important  and   profitable   work   awaited   him.      His  first 


58  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

achievement  here  was  the  painting  of  the  hall  of  the  Nunnery  of  S.  Paolo,  which  the 
abbess,  who  must  have  been  deeply  tinctured  with  the  classical  taste  of  the  age,  chose 
to  have  decorated,  not,  as  was  customary,  with  sacred  or  legendary  histories,  but  with 
scenes  from  pagan  mythology.  "The  Virgin  Diana,"  "The  Three  Graces,"  and  "The 
Fates,"  all,  no  doubt,  bearing  some  allusion  to  the  high  vocation  of  the  virgin  life  of 
the  cloister,  were  accordingly  painted  in  fresco  on  the  walls  by  Correggio  with  consum- 
mate elegance,  the  vault  being  conceived  after  the  manner  of  classic  painting,  as  a  vine 
arbor,  with  enchanting  little  genii  peeping  through  its  openings.  After  this  he  received 
a  commission  to  paint  the  cupola  of  S.  Giovanni,  at  Parma.  This  work,  begun  in  1520, 
represents  "The  Ascension  of  Christ,"  who  soars  to  heaven,  watched  by  the  twelve 
apostles,  and  is  remarkable  chiefly  for  its  powerful  foreshortening.  Two  years  later, 
when  his  love  of  foreshortening  had  developed  into  a  strong  passion,  he  undertook  the 
great  dome  of  the  cathedral,  which  he  covered  with  a  multitude  of  figures  foreshortened 
in  every  possible  and  impossible  attitude.  In  the  principal  group  the  ascending  Virgin 
is  borne  on  the  clouds  in  triumph  by  the  angelic  host,  whilst  Christ,  a  violendy  fore- 
shortened figure,  precipitates  himself  from  heaven  to  meet  her.  Such  is  the  rapturous 
scene  that  fills  the  centre  of  the  dome;  lower  stand  the  apostles  gazing  into  the  heaven 
of  light  that  is  opened  above  them.  It  is  unquestionably  a  work  of  boundless  power 
and  skill,  but  unfortunately  the  effect  on  the  mind  of  the  spectator  is  too  bewildering 
for  him  to  form  any  just  appreciation  of  its  merits,  and  as,  in  consequence  of  its 
excessive  display  of  foreshortening,  more  limbs  than  bodies  are  seen  when  it  is  looked 
at  from  below,  the  painter,  even  in  his  lifetime,  was  not  inaptly  accused  of  having  painted 
a  "ragout  of  frogs;"  only  the  legs  of  frogs,  as  is  well  known,  being  used  in  cookery. 

Although  Uiese  marvelous  frescoes  will  always  excite  the  admiration  of  the  critic, 
it  is  nevertheless  by  his  smaller  easel  pictures  that  Correggio  is  best  known  and  most 
truly  to  be  appreciated.  The  soft  beauty  and  tender  grace  of  many  of  these  is  beyond 
compare ;  and  the  magic  of  light  shed  over  them  transports  us,  as  it  were,  into  a  more 
radiant  world.  Take,  for  instance,  the  celebrated  "St.  Jerome,"  or  the  "Day,"  of  the 
Parma  Gallery,  where  the  figures  seem  literally  enveloped  in  an  atmosphere  of  light,  or 
the  not  less  famous  "  Xotte,"  at  Dresden,  in  which  the  mystic  light  emanating  from  the 
body  of  the  divine  Child  glorifies  the  entire  scene,  the  corporeal  forms  of  the  angels 
being  almost  lost  to  view  in  its  effulgence. 

"The  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine"  was  a  subject  frequently  painted  by  Correggio, 
but  never,  perhaps,  with  such  exquisite  grace  and  sentiment  as  in  the  well-known  picture 
in  the  Louvre.  The  Magdalen,  also,  was  one  of  his  favorite  heroines,  doubtless  because 
he  could  bestow  upon  this  type  of  frail  but  loving  womanhood  all  the  charms  of  sen- 
suous beauty.     The  magnificent  Magdalen  of  the  St.  Jerome  is  characterized  by  Wilkie 


\\  B  R  A  /Ty* 

Of    VrfJC 

UNIVERSITY 


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ITALIAN  SCHOOL.  59 


as  being,  "for  color,  character  and  expression,  the  perfection  not  only  of  Correggio, 
but  of  painting."  "The  Reading  Magdalen"  of  the  Dresden  Gallery,  who  lies  on  the 
soft  grass  in  a  wood,  deeply  absorbed  in  a  book,  is  well  known  by  means  of  repetitions 
and  engravings ;  but  were  it  not  for  the  vase  of  ointment  by  her  side,  she  might,  as 
Rio  well  remarks,  be  taken  for  "some  errant  muse,  if  only  a  little  more  chastely 
dressed,"  but  never  for  the  repentant  sinner  whose  love  was  awakened  by  her 
forgiveness. 

More  suitable,  perhaps,  to  Correggio's  "picturesque  sensuality,"  are  his  mythological 
nudities,  in  which  he  has  attained  to  a  charming  expression  of  love  and  physical  beauty. 
"Leda  with  the  Swan,"  in  a  wooded  landscape  with  her  bathing  companions,  in  the 
Berlin  Gallery;  the  "Jupiter  and  Antiope"  of  the  Louvre;  the  "Ganymede"  at  Vienna ; 
the  "  Danae"  in  the  Borghese  Palace  at  Rome ;  and  the  "  Education  of  Cupid"  in  the 
National  Gallery,  London,  are  among  the  most  famous  of  these  mythological  subjects. 
He  has  reached  in  them,  perhaps,  the  utmost  development  of  sensuous  life  that  could 
be  gained  without  falling  into  base  sensuality.  The  passionate  desire  and  voluptuous 
softness  of  several  of  them  approach,  it  must  be  owned,  dangerously  near  to  the  licen- 
tiousness of  the  later  Greeks,  but  Correggio's  own  mind  appears  to  have  been  so 
unconscious  of  evil  that  even  in  these  there  is  an  innocent  naivete  that  redeems  them 
from  coarseness. 

The  drawing  of  Michael  Angelo,  with  the  coloring  of  Titian,  was  the  aspiring  motto 
of  Jacopo  Robusti,  known  as  II  Tintoretto,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  father  having 
been  a  dyer  by  trade  (born  15 12,  died  1594).  We  find  that  the  Venetians  were  accus- 
tomed to  say  that  "he  had  three  pencils — one  of  gold,  one  of  silver,  and  a  third  of 
iron."  From  his  rapid  mode  of  painting  he  acquired  the  name  of  II  Furioso.  Covering 
walls  and  ceilings  with  the  boldest  designs  in  less  time  than  the  mere  decorator  would 
have  spent  over  the  work,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  execution  of  some  of  these  won- 
derful paintings  was  as  rough  and  mechanical  as  that  of  the  decorator,  whose  mode  of 
proceeding  he  imitated.  Much  of  his  painting,  indeed,  could  have  been  nothing  more 
than  the  bold  decoration  of  a  skilful  journeyman.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  several 
works  by  him  in  which  the  highest  artistic  excellence,  not  only  of  conception  and  com- 
position, but  likewise  of  execution,  is  reached.  The  celebrated  "Miracle  of  St.  Mark," 
now  in  the  Academy  at  Venice,  wherein  the  saint,  a  powerful-bodied  man,  descends 
head  downwards  from  heaven  to  rescue  a  Christian  slave  from  his  executioners,  is  a 
a  painting  that  is  astounding,  alike  by  its  boldness  of  design,  its  marvelous  effects  of 
light  and  shade,  and  its  powerful  coloring.  "Cest  un  ceuvre  de  coloriste,"  says  Charles 
Blanc,  "qu'aucune  autre  meme  a  Venise  ne  ferait  palir."  The  same,  possibly,  might 
once  have  been  said  of  his  "Paradise,"  a  gigantic  oil-painting  seventy-four  feet  long  by 


6o 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


thirty  feet  high,  in  the  Ducal  Palace,  which  was  executed  by  Tintoretto  when  he  was 
seventy-six  years  of  age  (assisted  only  by  his  son  Domenico)  in  the  incredibly  short 
space  of  three  or  four  years. 

Sacred  subjects  were  treated  by  Tintoretto  with  a  coarse  realism  entirely  opposed 
to  the  feeling  and  dignity  of  religious  art  He  even  degraded  the  mystery  of  "The 
Last  Supper"  into  a  scene  of  vulgar  carousal,  and  travestied  "The  Last  Judgment" 
until,  as  Vasari  says,  notwithstanding  the  power  displayed  in  it,  "it  had  all  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  painted  as  a  jest."     Mythological  subjects  were  more  suited  to  his 


Tintoretto  and  Daughter. 


bold  style,  and  his  rendering  of  these  was  often  gracefully  antique.  Like  Titian,  he 
lived  to  a  great  age,  and  painted  with  vigor  to  the  last  His  fine  portraits  are  now 
about  the  best  specimens  of  his  art  that  remain ;  for  unfortunately  but  few  of  his  great 
works  have  escaped  destruction.  The  paintings  assigned  to  him  in  galleries  are  very 
seldom  genuine.  There  is  a  fine  etching  by  him  (the  only  one  he  is  known  to  have 
executed)  of  "The  Doge  Paschalis  Ciconia." 

Besides  his  son  Domenico,  Tintoretto  had  a  daughter,  a  portrait  painter,  known  as 
Tintoretta.  He  had  very  few  followers;  his  son,  a  German  named  Jacob  Rotten- 
h.wimer,  and  a  painter  called  L'Alicuse,  were  indeed  about  the  only  masters  who 
attempted  to  imitate  his  outrageous  style. 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


61 


With  Veronese,  Tintoretto  and  Correggio,  the  glory  of  the  great  color-school  of 
Venice  departed ;  but  before  tracing  its  fall,  there  remains  to  be  noticed  one  other 
master,  who,  like  Titian  and  Veronese,  went  to  nature  for  instruction,  but  who,  unlike 
these  masters — who  only  delighted  in  her  glory  of  purple,  crimson  and  gold — loved  her 
in  her  most  homely  garb.  Instead  of  kings  and  queens,  splendid  architecture  and  rich 
banquets,  Jacopo  da  Ponte,  called   Bassano,  from  his  native   town    (i 510-1592),  painted 


From  the  original, 


by  Tintoretto. 


THE  MARRIAGE  IN  CANA. 


peasants,  beggars,  cottages,  cattle,  poultry,  and  even  the  pots  and  pans  that  were  after- 
wards such  favorite  subjects  of  the  Dutch  still-life  painters.  In  fact,  he  drew  the  dignified 
art  of  Venice  down  to  mere  genre-painting,  and  without  any  attempt  at  ideality — simply 
imitated  the  ordinary  types  he  saw  around  him.  Thus,  whether  he  represented  a  saint 
or  a  peasant  girl,  it  was  all  the  same;  one  model  did  for  both,  or  for  the  Queen  of 
Sheba,  if  the  occasion  required  it.     But  yet  his  execution  is  so   clever,  and  his  coloring 


62  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

so  radiant,  that  his  simple  scenes  of  country  life  are  not  unworthy  to  be  placed  beside 
Veronese's  elaborate  representations  of  pompous  city  life.  In  truth,  there  is  not  much 
difference  between  the  aims  of  these  two  masters,  different  at  first  sight  as  their  styles 
appear.  Veronese,  it  is  true,  surrounded  his  sacred  characters  with  all  the  attributes  of 
wealth  and  dignity,  and  Bassano  placed  them  not  unfrequently  amidst  the  accompani- 
ments of  poverty,  but  they  each  brought  them  down  to  earth,  and  made  them  of  the 
earth,  earthy;  and  we  cannot  suppose  that  it  would  matter  much  to  an  ecstatic  saint 
whether  he  were  placed  in  a  palace  or  a  cottage. 

Bassano  had  four  sons,  all  of  whom  he  brought  up  as  painters,  and  who,  after  his 
death,  inundated  the  markets  with  pictures  of  familiar  life,  all  cast,  as  it  were,  in  the 
same  mould.  Even  in  Bassano's  lifetime,  in  fact,  the  manufacture  of  such  works  was 
begun,  and  he,  assisted  by  his  sons,  turned  them  out  by  wholesale.  The  portraits  of 
this  manufactory  are,  however,  almost  always  excellent,  and  the  work  of  the  Bassani,  as 
they  were  collectively  called,  is  generally  remarkable  for  dexterity  of  hand,  skilful,  if 
not  beautiful  coloring,  and  an  able  imitation  of  the  humbler  beauties  of  nature. 

To  this,  Venetian  art  had  fallen  even  before  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  during  that  century  it  sank  to  still  lower  and  lower  degradation.  The 
"grand  style,"  as  the  dignified  expression  of  the  great  masters  was  called,  still,  it  is 
true,  remained  in  vogue,  genre-painting  being  but  little  practised  in  Italy,  except  by 
the  Bassani ;  but  the  homely  qualities  of  their  art  are  far  preferable  to  the  strained 
and  meretricious  productions  of  the  host  of  feeble  mannerists  and  imitators  who,  in 
Venice,  as  in  Florence  and  Rome,  succeeded  to  the  great  masters  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

The  schools  of  art  known  as  the  Eclectic,  which  flourished  in  Italy  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  undertook  the  impossible  task  of  uniting  and  harmonizing  opposing 
principles.  Seeing  that  it  was  hopeless  to  attempt  to  surpass  the  individual  greatness 
of  Michael  Angelo,  Raphael,  Titian,  and  the  other  chief  masters  of  the  blooming-time, 
these  schools  sought  to  produce  a  higher  perfection,  by  selecting  the  peculiar  excel- 
lences of  each  great  master,  and  forming  them  into  one  harmonious  whole.  But  in  this 
great  aim  they  succeeded  no  better  than  the  other  eclectic  schools  that  have  arisen  at 
various  periods  of  man's  history,  and  have,  in  like  manner,  attempted  to  bind  together 
the  scattered  truths  of  different  systems  of  philosophy.  In  all  these  endeavors,  the  force 
which  alone  produces  a  true  synthesis  seems  to  have  been  wanting,  and  the  elements 
having  no  real  affinity,  have  remained  simply  mixed  without  being  united.  This  was 
especially  the  case  with  the  eclectic  schools  of  painting  we  are  now  about  to  consider. 
The  principal  of  these  was  that  founded  by  Lodovico  Carracci  (born  1555,  died  161 9), 
at  Bologna.      Lodovico,  though   not  as  great  a   painter  as  the  more  famous  Annibale, 


'  ■       ■ 

I 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  63 


was  a  man  of  cultivated  mind,  who  exercised  a  vast  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  beneficial 
influence  over  the  art  of  his  time,  for  whether  we  consider  his  principles  right  or  wrong, 
he  must  at  least  be  credited  with  having  given  Italian  art  a  fresh  and  powerful  impulse 
at  the  time  when  it  was  in  danger  of  becoming  utterly  stagnant. 

With  the  aid  of  his  nephews,  Agostino  and  Annibale  Carracci,  whom  he  educated 
as  artists,  he  opened,  in  1589,  an  academy  at  Bologna,  which  boldly  professed  to  teach 
painting  on  a  scientific  system,  and  in  spite  of  the  opposition  this  excited,  his  school 
soon  became  the  most  important  of  the  time  in  Italy,  artists  from  all  parts  of  Italy 
being  attracted  to  it  by  the  fame  of  Lodovico's  teaching  and  the  success  of  his  pupils. 
The  eclectic  principles  of  this  school  are  set  forth  in  the  well-known  sonnet  by  Agos- 
tino Carracci,  wherein  the  artist,  who  desires  to  be  a  good  painter,  is  recommended  to 
acquire  "the  design  of  Rome,  Venetian  shade  and  action,  and  the  dignified  coloring  of 
Lombardy  [that  is,  probably  of  Leonardo  and  his  school],  the  terrible  manner  of  Michael 
Angelo,  Titian's  truth  to  nature,  the  sovereign  purity  of  Correggio's  style,  and  the  true 
symmetry  of  a  Raphael,  the  decorum  and  the  fundamental  knowledge  of  Tibaldi,  and 
the  invention  of  the  learned  Primaticcio,  and  a  little  of  Parmigiano's  grace  [it  being 
clearly  implied  that  it  was  possible  to  have  too  much  of  this  quality],  but  without  so 
much  study  and  so  much  toil,  let  him  apply  himself  to  imitate  the  works  that  our  Nic- 
colino  has  left  us." 

"Our  Niccolino,"  the  imitation  of  whose  works  is  thus  pointed  out  as  a  royal  road 
to  excellence,  was  a  painter  of  Modena,  called  Niccolo  Abati,  or  Dell'  Abbate.  He 
belonged  to  the  Roman  school,  and  is  said  to  have  acquired  Raphael's  manner  more 
nearly  than  any  of  his  other  followers.  He  executed  several  works  at  Bologna,  which 
brought  him  great  reputation  in  that  city,  especially  a  fine  Nativity  in  the  portico  of  the 
Leoni  Palace,  which  was  no  doubt  the  reason  of  his  appropriation  by  the  Carracci ; 
but  he  went  to  France,  in  1552,  to  assist  Primaticcio,  who  way  then  engaged  on 
the  decoration  of  the  palace  of  Fontainbleau,  and  remained  there  until  his  death 
in   1571. 

Pellegrino  Tibaldi  was  styled  by  the  Carracci  "the  reformed  Michael  Angelo" — 
Michelagnolo  Riformato ;  but  what  they  meant  by  such  a  title  it  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand. It  appears  to  us  now  as  if  it  must  really  have  been  bestowed  in  jest,  but 
Tibaldi's  conventional  style  was  greatly  admired  in  his  day,  and  he  achieved  both  in 
Italy  and  in  Spain,  where  he  was  invited  in  1586,  by  Philip  II,  a  vast  reputation  both 
as  an  architect  and  a  painter. 

The  genius  of  the  Carracci,  especially  that  of  Annibale,  was  too  strong  to  be  con- 
fined by  rules,  and  was  perpetually  asserting  its  independence.  Even  Lodovico,  who 
occupies  more  the  position  of  a  teacher  than  a  painter,  has  executed  works,  remarkable 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


not  only,  as  one  might  imagine,  for  their  academic  conventionality  of  style,  but  for  much 


Dm  a  J  Palatt.  fruit*. 


individual    beauty  and   sentiment;   and   Agostino   also,   especially  in   his   engravings  (he 
i*n graved  more  than  he  painted),  evinces  considerable  originality. 


WAT  ?AIL.iL,  KEi    •  71 A 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


65 


But  Annibale  (i  560-1 609),  the  youngest  of  the  Carracci,  is  undoubtedly  the  greatest 
master  of  the  three.     He  had  been  brought  up  to  his  father's  trade  of  tailor,  but  under 


his   uncle's   or    cousin's    instructions*   his 
artistic   abilities   were   quickly  developed. 
In    his    earlier   works    he    is    strongly   reminis- 
cent  of    Correggio.       His    "Adoration    of    the 
Shepherds,"   for   instance,  is   so  completely   in 


*  Lodovico  is  thought  by  some  to  have  been  the  cousin  oi  Agostino  and  Annibale.    There  was  another  Carracci,  a  painter,  Antonio, 
the  natural  son  of  Agostino. 


66  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

Correggio's  manner  that  it  has  been  stigmatized  by  a  French  critic  as  a  "parody"  on 
Correggio's  "Notte. "  The  study  of  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo  also  exercised  a 
powerful  influence  in  the  formation  of  his  style,  but  still  at  no  period  was  he  a  mere 
mechanical  copyist;  and  in  his  later  works  we  find  the  evidence  of  a  strong  and  original 
mind.  Madonnas,  Holy  Families  and  Pietas  are  among  his  most  frequent  subjects,  and 
many  of  these  he  has  treated  in  a  decidedly  naturalistic  manner,  with  no  thought  of 
eclectic  selection ;  for  nature  early  provoked  a  reaction  against  eclecticism,  and  in  the 
very  centre  of  the  school  of  the  Carracci,  and  at  a  time  when  it  was  at  its  height  of 
success,  a  rebellion  broke  out,  which  declared  as  its  object  a  return  to  the  study  and 
indiscriminate  reproduction  of  nature. 

By  the  Naturalisti,  as  the  artists  were  called  who  headed  this  movement,  all  selec- 
tion was  eschewed,  and  nature  was  taken  as  a  model  even  in  her  lowest  and  most 
repulsive  forms.  Bold  coloring,  dark  strong  shadows,  abrupt  lights,  and  a  powerful  but 
coarse  expression  of  human  passion,  are  the  prevailing  characteristics  that  distinguish 
didr  works  from  those  of  the  more  ideal  eclectics ;  still,  notwithstanding  the  violent 
opposition  of  the  two  schools — an  opposition  that  expressed  itself,  we  are  told,  by  such 
crimes  as  poisoning  and  assassination  as  well  as  by  fairer  means — it  is  evident  that  they 
acted  and  reacted  to  a  great  extent  upon  each  other,  so  that  it  is  often  difficult  to 
separate  their  adherents ;  indeed,  it  was  by  their  united  influence  that  several  of  the 
best  masters  of  the  time  were  formed.  Even  Annibale  Carracci,  the  greatest  of  the 
eclectics,  did  not  altogether,  as  we  have  seen,  escape  this  reactionary  naturalism ;  but 
he  never,  like  too  many  of  his  opponents,  did  violence  to  nature  by  setting  her  ugliest 
and  most  repellent  forms  in  striking  relief.  His  greatest  work  is  usually  considered  to 
be  a  series  of  mythological  frescoes,  in  the  Farnese  Palace  at  Rome;  but  he  is  better 
known  by  his  easel  pictures.  "The  Three  Maries,"  as  it  is  called,  a  Pieta  at  Casde 
Howard,  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  these.  He  was  the  first  Italian  master  who 
practised  landscape-painting  for  its  own  sake,  and  made  it  a  separate  branch  of  art 
The  great  Venetians  had  all  manifested  a  deep  feeling  for  landscape  beauty,  and  Titian's 
landscapes  especially  are  among  the  finest  that  have  ever  been  painted ;  but  they  never 
ventured  upon  them  except  as  a  setting  for  their  figures,  whereas  Annibale  Carracci, 
without  any  true  feeling  for  landscape,  made  it  a  chief  study,  and  founded  the  landscape 
school,  that  was  afterwards  more  fully  developed  by  Claude  and  Poussin.  Several  of 
the  pupils  of  the  Carracci,  or  painters  formed  in  their  school,  attained  to  almost  equal 
distinction  with  die  masters. 

Domenico  Zami'ieki,  better  known  as  Domenichino  (1581-1641),  is,  for  example, 
held  by  many  to  be  superior  to  Annibale,  but  he  has  a  less  powerful  individuality.  His 
most  important  painting  is  "The   Communion  of  St  Jerome,"  reproduced  in  most  works 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL.  67 


on  Italian  art,  and  esteemed  by  the  critics  of  the  eighteenth  century,  by  whom  these 
later  Italian  masters  were  so  greatly  exalted,  as  the  greatest  altar-piece  in  Rome,  with 
the  exception  of  Raphael's  Transfiguration.  The  subjects  of  his  pictures  are  mostly 
religious — legends  of  saints,  martyrdoms  and  such  like  themes,  set  forth  with  a  realistic 
and  passionate  effect,  especially  intended  to  awaken  the  emotions  of  the  spectators. 
For  the  Church  of  Rome,  from  which,  as  we  have  seen,  art  had  become  alienated  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  had  once  more,  after  the  deep  wounds  she  had  received  from 
Rationalism  and  Protestantism,  taken  her  early  handmaid  into  her  service ;  but  she  now 
no  longer  demanded  from  her  the  calm  devotional  productions  of  the  early  time,  but, 
adopting  the  taste  of  the  age  in  art,  admitted  passionate  and  emotional,  or,  as  we  should 
now  call  them,  sensational  pictures  into  her  churches,  seeking  to  satisfy,  by  such  drugs, 
the  emotional  cravings  of  her  children.  Martyrdoms,  therefore,  became  greatly  in 
vogue,  for  they  harrowed  the  feelings,  like  the  murders  of  a  modern  sensational  novel. 
Pietas  and  Mater  Dolorosas  were  likewise  in  fashion,  in  which  grief  was  depicted  with 
great  energy. 

Domenichino,  however,  although  he  supplied  such  subjects  with  ready  skill,  did  not 
rise  in  his  own  day  to  anything  like  the  estimation  in  which  he  has  since  been  held. 
He  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  the  victim  of  a  disgraceful  persecution  on  the  part  of 
an  opposed  clique  of  painters,  whose  malice  drove  him  from  Rome,  and  afterwards 
followed  him  to  Naples,  where  he  went  about  for  some  years  in  constant  fear  of  his 
life,  and  finally  died,  it  was  suspected,  by  poison. 

Francesco  Albani  (1 578-1 660),  whose  mythological  allegories,  impossible  landscapes, 
silly  nymphs,  elegant  meaningless  goddesses,  and  clouds  of  graceful  amorini  have  been 
much  admired;  and  Guido  Reni  (1 575-1 642),  whose  weak  ideality  has  been  extolled  as 
the  perfection  of  artistic  beauty,  were  likewise  eclectics,  but  of  a  different  stamp  to 
Domenichino  and  Annibale  Carracci.  They  were  at  first  fellow-pupils  in  the  school  of 
Denis  Calvert,  a  Flemish  master,  established  at  Bologna,  who  seems  to  have  had  the 
happy  knack  of  disgusting  his  pupils  as  much  with  his  style  of  art  as  with  the  brutality 
of  his  manners.  At  all  events,  Albani  and  Guido,  as  well  as  many  other  of  his  scholars, 
after  submitting  to  his  ill-treatment  for  a  time,  ran  away  and  enlisted  under  his  hated 
rivals,  the  Carracci.  Guido's  facility  in  imitation  and  undoubted  cleverness  were  soon 
perceived  by  the  Carracci,  who  set  him  forward  as  a  rival  to  the  powerful  Caravaggio, 
his  soft  inane  abstractions  forming  a  strong  contrast  to  the  coarse  realism  of  the  chief 
of  the  naturalisti.  He  soon,  indeed,  proved  a  formidable  rival  not  only  to  Caravaggio, 
but  to  Annibale  himself,  and  most  of  the  painters  of  his  time.  More  fortunate  than 
Domenichino,  he  made  a  great  position  in  Rome,  and  was  honored  by  the  friendship 
of  Paul  V,  who  fondly  hoped  to  make  his  pontificate  as  illustrious  in  the  history  of  art 


68 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


as  those  of  Julius  II  and  Leo  X.  With  this  view  he  employed  Guido  to  paint  several 
private  chapels  for  him,  works  which  he  executed  with  great  taste  and  skill.  His 
frescoes  and  light  decorative  works  are,  indeed,  usually  far  superior  to  his  altar-pieces 
and  easel  pictures.  But  it  was  for  ideal  Madonnas  and  soft  female  saints  that  he  was 
chiefly  celebrated,  and  commissions  for  these  flocked  in  upon  him  in  Rome  faster  than 
he  could  execute   them.      He  was,  in   fact,  as  much   in   fashion   there,  and  received  as 


From  tht  original. 


hjGuuU. 


FORTUNL 


much  adulation,  as  Raphael  had  formerly  done.  This  ruined  him.  Weak  and  vain  by 
nature,  all  his  bad  qualities  were  fostered  by  the  brilliant  dissipated  life  he  led;  and 
after  a  giddy  height  of  success  he  sank  both  in  his  art  and  his  life  to  a  very  low  level. 
An  absorbing  passion  for  gambling,  it  is  said,  was  one  cause  of  this  degradation.  In 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  only  painted  when  he  wanted  money  to  stake  at  the 
gaming-table;   and   after  having  gained   enormous   sums   by  his  art,  he  died  at  last   in 


A   SCENE   OF   THE    DELUGE 


. ROFESSOR    VINC1    LUCCARDLOF    ROME 


•  ■ 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


..  l  .  .".RSITY 
69 


poverty  and  want.  His  well-known  fresco  of  "Phoebus  and  Aurora  with  the  Hours," 
painted  in  the  garden-house  of  the  Rospigliosi  Palace  at  Rome,  is  one  of  his  most 
charming  and  graceful  conceptions,  breathing  forth  a  truly  classical  feeling  for  beauty. 
The  rhythmical  movement  of  the  Hours,  as  they  advance  in  rapid  flight  with  the  car 
of  Phoebus,  is  excellently  expressed,  and  the  coloring  of  the  whole  is  both  pure  and 
brilliant.  The  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  was  a  favorite  subject  with  him.  His  finest 
and  most  celebrated  painting  is,  perhaps,  the  Ecce  Homo. 

Francesco  Barbieri,  known,  in  consequence  of  a  squint,  as  Guercino  (1 592-1 666), 
affected  a  sentimental  ideality  of  the   same   style   as    Guido's,  and  had  even  less  feeling 


From  the  original. 


AURORA. 


by  Guido. 


for  real  beauty.  He  is  distinguished  by  his  strong  crude  coloring,  heavy  shadows 
imitated  from  Caravaggio,  and  insipid  mannerism.  His  greatest  work  is  "The  Woman 
of  Samaria." 

Carlo  Dolci  (161 6-1 686)  acquired  a  great  and  lasting  reputation  for  a  class  of 
subjects  admirably  adapted  to  his  pencil,  which  he  treated  in  a  style  peculiarly  his  own. 
These  were  chiefly  heads  of  Christ,  the  Virgin  and  Madonnas.  His  paintings  are 
admirable  in  composition  and  expression,  the  color  pleasing,  and  judicious  management 
of  the  chiaroscuro  gives  his  figures  wonderful  relief;  and  the  graceful  air  of  his  heads, 
with  their  general  harmony  and  exquisite  finish,  have  induced  so  many  to  copy  and 
imitate,  that  there  are  more  pictures  in  the  public  and  private  collections  of  Europe, 
esteemed  genuine  by  him,  than  he  could  have  executed  had  he  painted  one  every  day 
of  his  life. 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Dolci's  work  exhibits  careful  and  patient  labor.  Indeed,  his  contemporaries  cen- 
sured him  for  this  and  for  giving  his  carnations  more  of  the  appearance  of  ivory  than 
of  flesh.  His  pencil  was  delicate,  his  touch  inexpressibly  neat,  and  his  coloring  trans- 
parent The  soft  and  tranquil  expression  of  resignation  or  devotion  in  the  patient 
sufferings  of  Christ,  the  plaintive  sorrow  of  the  "Mater  Dolorosa" — his  most  successful 
subjects — the  compunctious  visitings  of  conscience  in  his  Magdalenes,  are  all  treated 
with  great  delicacy  and  tenderness.  It  is  reported  of  Dolci  that  his  brain  was  affected 
on  seeing  Luca  Giordano  dispatch  more  work  in  four  or  five  hours  than  he  conld  have 
done  in  as  many  months.  He  generally  painted  in  small  size,  though  he  executed  some 
works  life-size,  the  principal  of  which  are  the  "St.  Anthony"  in  the  Uffizzi  Gallery,  a 
"Crucifixion,"  "St  Sebastian,"  and  "Four  Evangelists."  His  half-length  figures  of  Christ 
and  of  Madonnas  are  very  numerous  and  most  generally  esteemed.  He  instructed  his 
daughter,  Agnes,  to  paint  and  she  copied  many  of  his  works  as  well  as  producing 
several  beautiful  original  compositions.  His  pupils  Lorna  and  Mancini  never  attained 
any  eminence,  and  we  cannot  regard  Dolci  as  having  exercised  any  influence  in  retarding 
the  decline  in  art  which  was  rapidly  taking  place  in  his  day. 

Carlo  Maratti  (1625-1713),  when  twelve  years  old,  was  sent  by  his  father  to 
Rome,  where  he  entered  the  school  of  Andrea  Sacchi,  with  whom  he  studied  for  several 
years,  and  became  his  most  favored  disciple.  By  the  advice  of  his  master  he  made  the 
works  of  Raffaelle  his  chief  study.  He  rose  to  great  distinction,  and  during  his  lifetime 
was  considered  one  of  the  first  artists  in  Europe.  Mengs  assigns  to  him  the  enviable 
distinction  of  having  "sustained  the  art  at  Rome,  where  it  did  not  degenerate  as  at 
other  places."  At  the  commencement  of  his  career,  he  confined  himself  to  painting 
Holy  Families,  pictures  of  the  Virgin  and  Madonnas,  on  which  account  the  cotemporary 
artists,  particularly  Salvator  Rosa,  thought  him  incapable  of  higher  productions,  and 
satirically  called  him  Carluccio  dalle  Madonne.  To  counteract  the  evil  efforts  of  his 
enemies,  Sacchi  obtained  for  him  a  commission  to  paint  a  picture  for  the  Baptistery  of 
St.  John  of  Lateran,  where  he  represented  Constantine  destroying  the  Idols,  a  perform- 
ance which  stifled  calumny  and  established  his  reputation  as  one  of  the  ablest  artists 
of  his  time.  It  also  procured  him  the  patronage  of  Alexander  VII,  under  whose 
protection  and  that  of  his  successors  he  became  the  most  popular  and  the  most 
employed  artist  at  Rome.  He  was  commissioned  to  restore  the  great  frescoes  of 
Raffaelle  in  the  Vatican  and  the  Farnesian  Palace,  which  had  begun  to  suffer  from  the 
effects  of  time — a  task,  says  his  biographer  Bellori,  "requiring  infinite  care  and  judgment 
and  which  he  performed  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  patron."  Lanzi  says  that  "Maratti 
was  no  machinist  therefore  neither  he  nor  his  scholars  ever  distinguished  themselves  in 
frescoes  or   in   large  compositions.      At  the   same  time,  he  had  no  fear  of  engaging  in 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL.  ?1 


works  of  that  kind,  and  willingly  undertook  the  decoration  of  the  Duomo  of  Urbino, 
which  he  peopled  with  his  figures."  This  work,  with  the  cupola  itself,  was  destroyed 
by  an  earthquake  in  1782,  but  the  sketches  of  it  are  preserved  in  the  Albani  Palace 
at  Urbino.  Though  Carlo  Maratti  painted  some  pictures  of  extraordinary  magnitude, 
as  his  "St.  Carlo,"  in  the  church  of  that  saint  at  the  Corso,  and  "The  Baptism  of 
Christ,"  in  the  Certosa,  yet  his  pictures  for  the  most  part  are  on  a  smaller  scale.  He 
had  a  predilection  for  cabinet  pictures  and  altar-pieces,  of  the  child  Jesus,  Holy  Families, 
Madonnas,  and  other  sacred  subjects,  of  which  he  executed  a  multitude,  which  are  to 
be  found  not  only  in  the  churches  and  every  private  collection  at  Rome,  but  in  the 
State,  as  well  as  at  Florence,  Genoa  and  other  places.  He  was  a  chaste  and  elegant 
designer,  but  his  forms  discover  too  little  acquaintance  with  the  antique.  His  compo- 
sitions are  rich  and  magnificent,  but  they  bear  the  character  of  coldness  and  languor, 
and  appear  rather  the  productions  of  labor  than  the  inspirations  of  genius.  He  prided 
himself  on  the  copious  castings  of  his  draperies,  but  in  this  he  displays  a  species  of 
mannerism,  and  the  multiplicity  of  his  folds  exhibits  little  of  the  beauty  of  the  figures. 
His  coloring  is  generally  silvery  and  pleasing,  but  towards  the  latter  end  of  his  life  it 
became  somewhat  cold  and  chalky.  Yet  it  is  admitted  that  some  of  his  productions  are 
exquisitely  beautiful;  the  forms  of  his  female  saints  lovely;  his  Madonnas  dignified,  and 
his  angels  angelic.  Lanzi  says  his  pictures  approaching  nearest  to  Sacchi  are  most 
prized  at  Rome,  among  which  are  "The  Baptism  of  Christ,"  in  the  Certosa,  which  is 
copied  in  mosaic  in  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter's ;  "The  Death  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,"  in 
II  Gesu;  "The  Visitation,"  in  La  Pace;  and  "The  Conception,"  in  S.  Isidore.  Among 
his  most  charming  compositions  are  "St.  Stanislaus  Kostka,"  at  the  altar  where  his  ashes 
repose,  and  "David's  First  View  of  Bathsheba,"  which  last  is  a  work  inexpressibly 
beautiful.  He  executed  a  few  free,  spirited  etchings,  after  his  own  designs  and  other 
Italian  masters,  though  they  are  more  highly  finished  than  is  usual  with  painters. 

Michelangelo  Amerighi,  better  known  as  Caravaggio  (1 569-1609),  was,  as  already 
mentioned,  the  chief  of  the  Naturalisti,  or  Tenebrosi,  as  they  were  likewise  called  from 
their  love  of  strong  dark  shadows  relieved  by  glaring  lights.  The  principles  that  Cara- 
vaggio and  his  school  opposed  to  the  eclecticism  of  the  Carracci  were  a  direct  study 
from  and  imitation  of  common  nature,  and  a  forcible  representation  of  human  passion. 
No  painters  have,  perhaps,  more  powerfully  represented  the  dark  and  evil  side  of 
humanity,  and  they  appear  to  have  drawn  their  illustrations  of  this  mostly  from  their 
own  personal  experience,  for  the  lives  of  too  many  were  as  dark  and  wild  as  the 
pictures  they  painted.  Incapable  of  understanding  the  higher  teachings  of  nature,  they 
interpreted  her  lessons  according  to  the  brutish  comprehension  of  their  dull  sensual 
hearts,  and  painted  pictures,  the  moral  ugliness  of  which  is  rendered  the  more  repulsive 


7* 


AfASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


by  the  effective  and  striking  light  in  which  it  is  placed.     Caravaggio,  especially,  used  his 
great  powers   to   degrade   instead  of  exalt  the   subject  of  his  art,  and  even  in  a  Pieta 


NAPLES. 


*^f#    ' 


introduced  the  most  vulgar  types.  Leading  a  wild 
vagabond  kind  of  life  himself*  he  was  particularly 
successful  in  depicting  the  brigandage  and  vagabond- 
ism of  his  age;  and  his  genuine  vagabonds — such,  for 
instance,  as   his   celebrated  "False  Players,"  of  which 


*  He  committed  homicide,  if  not   murder,  In  earljr  life,  and  was  obliged  to  fly  to  Naples  to  escape  the  law.    Afterwards,  upon  soma 
o  hat  orT«"i<-r.  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  but  contrived  to  escape. 


SEP    OF    SORROW  AND    THE    DR.'        '       ?'   JOY 


ETTfrl  ■■     i      FROM    THE    SCULPTU1  :     . ■  JNTI. 


A  R  V 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


n 


there  are  several  repetitions — are  far  less  repellent  than  when  he  clothes  the  same 
types  in  an  incongruous  religious  garb.  On  such  subjects,  indeed,  as  "The  False 
Players,"  "The  Fortune-teller,"  and  others  of  the  same  class,  his  powers  are  suitably 
employed;  and  the  bold  brute  force,  if  one  may  call  it  so,  of  his  style,  the  vigor  of  his 
coloring,  and  the  effective  contrasts  of  his  chiaroscuro  produce  a  powerful  impression 
on  the  mind. 

Caravaggio's  art   seems   to   have   been    peculiarly  well   adapted  to  the   taste  of  the 
Neapolitans,  with    whose    passionate    southern    natures   it  was,  in    truth,  much  in  accord, 


and  he  was  the  found- 
er in  Naples  of  a 
school  which  is  chiefly 
notorious  for  the  in- 
famous characters  of 
its  members. 

The  disgraceful  Ca- 
bal of  Naples,  as  it 
was  called,  was  com- 
posed of  a  triumvirate 
of  painters,  who  made 
it  their  object  to  drive 
away  every  artist  of 
note  who  came  to 
practise  in  their  city, 
and  who,  when  they 
could  not  succeed  by 
fair  means,  resorted 
unscrupulously  to  poi- 


From  the  original,  by  Caravaggio. 

CHRIST  CROWNED  WITH  THORNS. 


son  and  assassination 
to  attain  their  end. 
Domenichino  was  a 
victim  of  this  Cabal, 
and  Annibale  Carrac- 
ci  and  several  other 
artists  were  obliged  to 
leave  Naples  because 
of  the  shameful  treat- 
ment to  which  they 
were  subjected.  Two 
of  the  painters  of  this 
Cabal — Belisario  Co- 
renzio  and  Giambat- 

TISTA       CARACCIOLO 

though  important  from 
the  authority  they  as- 
sumed in  their  own 
day,     are     but     little 


known  in  this ;  but  the  third,  Giuseppe  Ribera,  called,  from  his  being  by  birth  a 
Spaniard,  Lo  Spagnoletto  (i  588-1656)  has  acquired  a  wider  renown.  His  style  is  an 
exaggeration  even  of  that  of  his  master,  Caravaggio.  It  is  brutal  and  savage  in  its 
strength,  like  the  character  of  the  painter,  but  is  well  calculated  by  its  striking  effects 
to  produce  an  impression  on  minds  incapable  of  feeling  the  beauty  of  a  more  refined 
expression.  He  dipped  his  paint-brush,  as  Byron  says,  in  blood,*  and  painted  horrible 
martydoms  and  other  scenes  of  cruelty  with  a  sort  of  ferocious  delight,  enhancing  their 
diabolical  effect  by  the  dark  masses  of  shadow  in  which  he  set  them. 


*  "  Spagnoletto  tainted 
His  brush  with  all  the  blood  of  all  the  sainted." 


74  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART.     • 

A  more  famous  name  among  Neapolitan  painters  is  that  of  Salvator  Rosa  ( i 6 i  5— 
1673),  who  carried  out  in  landscape  the  style  of  Caravaggio,  and  Lo  Spagnoletto  in 
figure-painting.  Fuseli  describes  his  landscapes  as  abounding  "in  ideas  of  desolation, 
solitude  and  danger;"  and  truly  he  gives  the  same  gloomy  character  to  inanimate  nature 
as  the  Tenebrosi  to  human  nature.  Thunder-clouds  darken  his  skies ;  sullen  waves 
beat  upon  his  rork-bound  coasts,  and  danger  lurks  in  his  impenetrable  forests  and 
gloomy  caverns ;  his  figures  are  banditti  dividing  their  spoil,  or  lonely  travellers  who 
pursue  their  fearful  way  in  evident  danger  of  the  same  banditti  whom  we  feel  are 
somewhere  near  at  hand.  And  yet  with  all  this  savageness  and  gloom  there  is  a 
subjective  poetry  in  Salvator  Rosa's  lowering  landscapes  that  is  not  without  its  peculiar 
charm. 

The  fierce  power  of  Caravaggio's  and  Spagnoletto's  works  has  been  characterized 
as  "the  poetry  of  the  repulsive,"  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  truly  repulsive  is 
capable  of  being  poetical ;  it  is  not,  at  all  events,  the  evil,  so  much  as  the  melancholy, 
the  despair  that  it  has  brought  with  it,  that  is  reflected  from  Salvator's  mind  upon  his 
canvas.  The  Tenebrosi,  it  would  almost  seem,  took  delight  in  the  wickedness  around 
them,  whereas  Salvator  was  at  war  with  it,  though  it  too  often  overcame  him.  He  saw 
the  storm,  but  never  the  rainbow,  in  the  sky.  Besides  landscapes  he  painted  many 
ambitious  historical  and  biblical  scenes;  but  these  in  general  have  very  little  merit,  and 
it  is  by  his  landscapes  that. he.  is  best  known. 

Antonio  Canale,  generally  styled  Canaletto  (1 697-1 768),  painted  with  consider- 
able skill  and  accuracy  the  palaces  and  canals  of  Venice,  his  native  city,  but  he  seems 
to  have  been  deficient  in  real  feeling  for  their  beauty,  and  his  coloring  is  somewhat 
cold  and  dead.  They  have  a  truthful  kind  of  excellence,  and  fairly  represent  the 
beautiful  mistress  of  the  Adriatic;  for  although  the  heroic  heart  of  the  Republic  had 
now  ceased  to  beat,  her  canals  had  not  yet  become  stagnant  and  her  seas  frozen. 

These  were  the  last  painters  worthy  of  mention  of  Venice.  They  bring  us  down 
far  into  the  eighteenth  century,  when  art  had  fallen  into  its  deepest  degradation,  they 
being,  perhaps,  the  most  meritorious  masters  of  the  time. 

Everywhere — in  Rome,  Florence,  Venice,  Umbria,  Bologna,  Milan,  and  Parma — there 
had  succeeded  to  the  wonderful  exaltation  of  Italian  art,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  a  corresponding  depression,  and  by  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  it 
stood  at  one  dead  level  of  mediocrity — no  school,  no  painter  even,  being  much  better 
or  worse  than  another. 

The  Eclectics  and  the  Naturalists  had  made,  it  is  true,  a  vigorous  effort  to  revive 
its  former  life  and  glory,  but  the  very  effort  made  such  a  revival  impossible;  for  all 
great  art  is  spontaneous,  and  cannot  be   produced  as  they  tried   to   produce  it.  by  law 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


75 


and  by  rule.  After  a  time,  therefore,  the  Eclectics  and  Naturalists  themselves,  who  had 
tried  hard  to  avoid  the  mistake  of  the  Mannerists,  of  copying  one  particular  master, 
became  known  equally  with  them  by  the  fatal  appellation  of  Machinists  (Macchinisti), 
and  truly  their  huge,  rapidly-painted  canvases,  in  which  there  is  not  the  slightest  indica- 
tion of  mind  or  feeling,  are  just  such  works  as  we  might  expect  to  have  executed  by 
steam-power  if  it  were  ever  so  applied. 

In  early  life  Antonio  Canova  (i 757-1822)  produced  some  excellent  pictures, 
especially  a  "Descent  from  the  Cross,"  which  proved  that  he  would  have  been  eminent 
with  the  pencil — as  he  was  with  the  chisel — had  he  devoted  himself  wholly  to  it.  He 
was  born  at  the  little  village  of  Possagno,  situate  in  the  plains  of  Treviso,  in  the 
Venetian  States.  His  father,  who  was  a  stone-mason,  died  when  Antonio  was  only 
three  years  of  age,  and  being  of  a  delicate  constitution,  he  was  taken  under  the  care 
of  his  grandfather,  Pasino  Canova.  The  latter  (who  was  also  a  stone-mason)  had  some 
knowledge  of  architecture  and  a  taste  for  design,  and  he  imparted  such  instruction  as 
he  could  to  his  grandson.  Antonio  found  every  opportunity  in  the  workshop  of  his 
grandfather  to  gratify  the  bent  of  his  genius,  and  he  frequently  indulged  his  inclination 
for  sculpture,  even  at  this  early  age.  Two  shrines,  cut  in  Carrara  marble  at  the  age 
of  nine  years,  prove  the  excellence  of  his  first  attempts.  The  patrician  family  of 
Faliero,  whose  villa  was  situated  near  Possagno,  were  warm  patrons  of  Pasino,  and 
from  his  good  qualities  he  was  held  in  much  esteem  by  Sig.  Giovanni  Faliero,  the  chief 
of  his  house  and  a  senator  of  Venice.  Owing  to  this  acquaintance,  he  frequently  saw 
the  young  Canova,  whose  skill  in  the  use  of  the  chisel  attracted  his  notice,  and  h'e  soon 
after  took  him  under  his  own  immediate  protection.  It  is  said  that  die  warm  interest 
taken  by  Faliero  in  the  welfare  of  Canova  arose  from  his  having  seen  a  lion  which  the 
young  artist  had  modeled  in  butter,  as  an  ornament  for  the  table  of  the  senator. 

Canova,  when  but  sixteen  years  of  age,  at  the  desire  of  his  patron,  began  his 
group  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice.  He  commenced  with  the  figure  of  Eurydice,  which  he 
completed  in  his  seventeenth  year.  This  statue,  which  is  of  life-size,  is  remarkable  for 
simplicity  of  action,  and  gave  promise  of  that  future  excellence  which  was  nobly  attained 
when,  in  three  years  afterward,  he  produced  the  statue  of  Orpheus.  At  this  time,  while 
Canova  was  actively  employed  at  his  favorite  art,  he  found  sufficient  leisure  to  enrich 
his  mind  by  an  attentive  study  of  ancient  and  modern  history;  he  also  acquired  a 
knowledge  of  several  continental  languages,  and  did  not  neglect  the  study  of  anatomy. 
His  next  production  was  the  group  of  Daedalus  and  Icarus,  which  is  considered  the 
best  work  of  his  early  years.  In  1790  a  pension  of  three  hundred  ducats  for  three 
years  was  granted  him  by  the  Venetian  Senate,  and  he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  was 
patronized  by  Sir  William  Hamilton  and  several  others,  and  also  found  a  sincere  patron 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


in  the  Venetian  ambassador,  Zuliani,  a  man  of  cultivated  taste.  Canova  had  now  an 
opportunity  of  studying  the  splendid  remains  of  antiquity,  and  he  soon  proved  that  he 
profited  by  this  study,  by  producing  his  group  of  Theseus  vanquishing  tin-  Minotaur, 
which  at  once  established  his  fame.  He  now  attempted  another  branch  of  the  art — 
namely,  a  grand  monument  in  honor  of  Pope  Clement  XIV.  It  was  finished  in  1787, 
and  is  a  most  admirable  specimen  of  monumental   sculpture.     During   the   progress  of 


this  great  work 
he  produced  his 
statue  of  the 
youthful  Psyche, 
an  exquisite 
piece  of  sculp- 
ture, and  also 
the  model  of  the 
group  of  Cupid 
ami  Psyche  in  a 
recumbent  pos- 
ture, executed  in 
marble  in  1793. 
In  1795  and  the 
two  succeeding 
years,  several 
beautiful  works 
appeared,  among 
which  were  his 
celebrated  group 
of.  Cupid  and 
Psyche  standing, 
and  his  group  of 


'  'trmmggU 


Venus  and  Ad- 
onis. The  latter 
was  sent  to  the 
king  of  Naples, 
who  expressed 
his  approbation 
of  its  excellence 
by  honoring  the 
sculptor  with  the 
order  of  the  Two 
Sicilies.  The 
troubles  of  1 798 
obliged  him  to 
n  tire  to  his  na- 
tive village,  Pos- 
sagno,  where,  in 
strict  retirement, 
he  devoted  him- 
self to  painting. 
He  soon  after- 
wards returned 
to  Rome,  and 
produced      his 


"Perseus  with  the  Head  of  Medusa,"  which  by  a  public  decree  was  honored  with  a 
place  in  one  of  the  Stanzi  of  the  Vatican.  In  1802  Canova  was  invited  to  Paris  at 
the  special  request  of  Napoleon.  On  his  arrival  he  was  received  with  great  honor, 
and  admitted  a  member  of  the  Institute.  He  modeled  a  colossal  statue  of  Napoleon, 
which  was  not  completed  till  six  years  afterward.  In  1805  he  produced  his  "Venus 
Victorious,"  a  recumbent  figure  of  exquisite  grace  and  beauty;  and  in  this  year  he 
completed  his  splendid  monument  of  Christina,  arch-duchess  of  Austria,  erected  in  the 
church  of  the  Augustines  at  Vienna.     In  18 10  he  revisited  Paris,  where  he  modeled  the 


X 


\ 


\ 


\ 


H    CAMPOTOSTO.   P1"NXT 


C    AR.YYTAGE    SCULPT 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL. 


77 


bust  of  the  Empress  Maria  Louisa,  and  executed  a  statue  of  the  mother  of  Napoleon. 
In  1815  he  was  sent  to  Paris  to  demand  of  the  French  government  the  great  works 
of  art  which  had  been  taken  from  Italy.  In  the  same  year  he  visited  England.  On 
his  return  to  Rome,  new  honors  awaited  him.  The  Pope  inscribed  with  his  own  hand 
the  name  of  Canova  in  the  Golden  Volume  of  the  Capitol.  He  received  the  title  of 
Marquis  d'Ischia,  and  an  annual  pension  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars  was  granted  him. 
Among  his  last  works  was  one  of  his  best — the  group  of  Mars  and  Venus.  In  the 
arrangement  of  the  figures  it  resembles  the  Venus  and  Adonis,  but  in  grace  and  beauty 
it   far   surpasses    it.       His   last   work   was   a   bust  of  his    friend    and    biographer,   Count 


Cigognara. 

Francesco  Zuccarelli, 
or  Zuccherelli,  one  of 
the  greatest  Italian  land- 
scape painters,  was  born 
at  Pitigliano,  in  Tuscany, 
in  1 702.  For  some  time 
he  applied  himself  to  his- 
torical painting,  but  his 
natural  genius  leading 
him  to  landscape,  he  af- 
terwards confined  him- 
self to  that  branch,  in 
which  he  so  greatly  ex- 
celled. His  scenery  is 
always  pleasing,  and  usu- 
ally     embellished      with 


Carlo  Mnrali. 


ruins,  cottages  and  fig- 
ures elegantly  designed, 
and  touched  with  great 
neatness  and  spirit.  His 
pictures  are  greatly  ad- 
mired and  extolled  all 
over  Europe.  His  prin- 
cipal field  in  Italy  was  in 
Venice  until  the  British 
consul,  Sir  Frederick 
Smith,  induced  him  to 
visit  England  in  1752, 
where  he  met  with  very 
flattering  encourage- 
ment, and  was  elected 
one  of  the  original  forty 
members    of   the    Royal 


Academy.  About  1773  he  returned  to  Italy  and  settled  at  Florence,  where  he  invested 
a  considerable  sum  of  money,  the  produce  of  his  talents,  in  the  security  of  one  of  the 
monasteries,  intending  to  pass  the  rest  of  his  days  in  tranquil  repose,  but  the  monastery 
was  soon  afterwards  suppressed  by  Joseph  II  of  Austria,  and  the  unfortunate  artist, 
being  reduced  to  indigence,  was  obliged  to  resume  his  pencil.  He  sometimes  decorated 
the  landscapes  and  architectural  pieces  of  his  cotemporaries  with  beautiful  figures.  He 
died  at  Florence  in   1788. 

In  a  notice  so  brief  as  this  is  of  the  "Masterpieces  of  Italian  Art,"  we  have  had 
to  exclude  much  which  very  deservedly  would  come  under  the  title ;  but  we  must  make 
room  for  the  five  great  masters  of  Engraving — the  art  which  translates  to  the  student 
and  the  amateur  the  great  compositions — whose  names  equal  in  renown  their  five  great 


78  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


brethren  of  Painting.*  We  refer  to  Marc  Antonio  Ramondi,  Bartolozzi,  Raphael  Morghen, 
Longhi,  and  Toschi. 

Marc  Antonio  Ramondi  was  born  at  Bologna,  in  1487,  and  is  generally  known  in 
art  by  the  name  of  Marc  Antonio.  He  was  instructed  in  design  and  in  the  art  of 
working  in  niello  by  Francesca  Francia,  and  next  proceeded  to  engrave  some  of  the 
productions  of  his  master,  the  first  of  which  was  "Pyramus  and  Thisbe,"  dated  1502. 
At  first  he  imitated  Andreas  Mantegna,  and  next  Albert  Diirer.  According  to  Vasari, 
while  on  a  visit  to  Venice  in  search  of  improvements,  Ramondi  met  with  a  set  of 
DUrer's  thirty-six  wooden  cuts,  representing  the  life  and  passion  of  our  Saviour,  and, 
being  greatly  pleast  ■<.!  with  them,  he  copied  them  on  copper  (affixing  the  cipher  of 
1  Hirer),  with  such  precision  that  the  prints  were  readily  sold  in  Italy  as  originals.  This 
deception  reaching  the  ears  of  Diirer,  he  went  to  Venice  and  complained  before  the 
Senate  of  the  plagiarism  and  injustice,  but  could  obtain  no  further  redress  than  an  order 
forbidding  Marc  Antonio  to  use  Diirer' s  monogram  on  any  future  copies  he  might  make 
of  his  works.  He  next  proceeded  to  Rome,  where  his  remarkable  talents  immediately 
recommended  him  to  the  notice  of  Raphael,  who  employed  him  to  engrave  after  his 
designs.  It  is  well  known  that  under  the  instruction  of  Raphael  he  acquired  great 
improvement  and  brought  the  art  to  a  degree  of  perfection  that  has  hardly  ever  been 
surpassed.  This  is  shown  by  the  prints  he  engraved  after  Raphael.  The  first  was  "The 
1  )eath  of  Lucretia,"  which,  though  neatly  executed,  was  somewhat  stiff  and  formal ;  the 
next.  "The  Judgment  of  Paris,"  is  executed  in  a  more  bold  and  spirited  manner,  and 
these  wen;  followed  by  others,  exhibiting  marked  improvement,  until  Raphael  himself 
was  satisfied  with  his  performances,  who  is  said  to  have  sent  some  of  his  prints  to 
Albert  Diirer,  together  with  several  of  his  own  drawings,  as  a  most  acceptable  present 
to  that  eminent  artist,  who  had  honored  him  by  sending  him  his  portrait.  After  the 
death  of  Raphael,  in  1520,  he  engraved  Bandinelli's  "Martyrdom  of  St.  Laurence,"  and 
on  this  picture  he  exerted  all  his  powers.  The  Pope  (Clement  VII),  delighted  at  this 
masterpiece,  quickly  took  him  under  his  protection.  He  continued  in  Rome  in  full 
possession  of  public  esteem  and  favored  with  the  patronage  of  the  great,  till  the 
dreadful  sacking  of  the  city  by  the  Spaniards  in  1527,  when  he  was  despoiled  of  all 
his  property,  and  obliged  to  flee  to  Bologna,  where  he  continued  to  practice  his  art 
until  1539,  when  he  engraved  his  last  print,  "The  Battle  of  the  Lapithse,"  after  Gulio 
Romano.  Marc  Antonio  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  engravers 
that  ever  lived. 

Francisco  Bartolozzi  was  lK>rn  in  Florence  in  1730,  and  was  instructed  in  drawing 


•The  fire  great  nusten  of  Italian  art  are  Giotto.  Raphael.  I*onardo  da  Vinci.  Michael  Angclo,  and  Titian;   aad   the   chronological 
similarity  of  difference  between   the  pioneer  of  each  and  his  succeeding  followers  is  very  curious. 


ITALIAN   SCHOOL.  7g 


by  Hughfort  Ferretti,  and  studied  engraving  under  Joseph  Wagner,  of  Venice.  His 
first  productions  were  some  plates  from  F.  Zuccherelli.  His  principal  works,  however, 
were  executed  in  England,  where  he  arrived  in  1764.  His  etchings  after  drawings  of 
the  most  celebrated  painters  represent  admirably  the  fire  and  spirit  of  the  originals ;  and 
he  was  not  less  successful  in  the  exquisitely  finished  plates  of  his  own  designing,  which 
he  produced  in  the  various  styles  he  practised.  He  died  at  Lisbon  in  181 3,  on  his  way 
back  to  his  native  Italy. 

Giuseppe  Longhi  was  born  at  Monza  in  1758.  His  father  early  placed  him  in  the 
Academy  of  Brera,  at  Milan,  where  he  learned  the  art  of  engraving.  He  afterwards 
went  to  Rome,  where  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Raphael  Morghen.  In  1798  he 
was  chosen  professor  of  the  Academy,  of  Brera,  and  filled  his  professorship  with  great 
honor  and  distinction,  and  to  him  many  of  the  most  distinguished  engravers  of  the 
present  day  owe  their  education.  Among  his  great  works  are  "The  Vision  of  Ezekiel," 
"The  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,"  a  Holy  Family,  after  Raphael,  and  "The  Madonna  del 
Lago,"  after  Leonardo  da  Vinci.     He  died  of  apoplexy  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Raphael  Sanzio  Morghen  was  born  at  Florence,  June  19,  1758.  His  father  was 
a  painter  of  some  ability,  and  patronized  by  the  court  of  Charles  III.  Raphael  Morghen 
was  early  instructed  by  his  father  in  the  elements  of  the  art,  and  he  made  such  rapid 
progress  as  to  be  able  to  engrave  a  tolerable  plate  when  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
twelve  years. ,  He  first  gained  distinction  by  seven  engravings  from  the  masks  of  thq 
carnival  of  1778, — "The  Pilgrimage  of  the  Grand  Signor  to  Mecca."  This  work  possessed 
such  extraordinary  merit  that  his  father  determined  to  give  him  the  best  advantages,  and 
accordingly  sent  him  to  Valpato,  at  Rome.  The  latter  first  set  him  at  copying  "Soldiers 
of  Christ"  and  "Mary  Magdalene  in  the  Garden;"  and  he  shortly  afterwards  engraved 
Gavin  Hamilton's  allegorical  figure  of  "Painting"  for  the  brothers  Hackert.  In  1781  he 
engraved,  in  concert  with  his  father-in-law,  Raphael's  "Parnassus,  or  the  Historical  Illus- 
tration of  Poetry  and  Theology,"  in  the  Stanze  of  the  Vatican.  In  the  same  year  he 
married  Valpato's  only  daughter,  Domenica.  In  1787  he  engraved  the  "Aurora"  of 
Guido.  In  1 790  he  visited  Naples,  and  engraved  a  portrait  of  his  father.  The  Neapolitan 
Court  in  1792  wished  him  to  remain  permanently  at  Naples,  and  offered  him  a  salary 
of  six  hundred  ducats ;  but  he  chose  to  accept  an  invitation  from  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  and  accordingly  settled  at  Florence  in  1793,  with  a  salary  of  four  hundred 
scudi  and  free  apartments  in  the  city,  under  the  sole  condition  that  he  should  keep  a 
public  school,  with  the  privilege  of  engraving  what  he  might  choose,  his  prints  remaining 
his  own  property. 

The  fame  of  Morghen  soon  rose  to  a  great  height,  and  he  receivecn  many  com- 
missions   from    the    royal  family    of  Florence.      In    1795    he    commenced    the   celebrated 


8o 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Ludwtg  Passim,  fmx. 


FRA   FILIPPO. 


ENGRAVED    BT    G  .  STODART  ,   FROM     THE     GROUP    BY     G . FONTANA 


F 


OF GjS*' 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


81 


82  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


"Madonna  del  Sacco,"  after  Andrea  del  Sarto,  and  "The  Transfiguration,"  after  Raphael. 
The  latter  was  not  completed  till  1812,  when  it  appeared  with  a  dedication  to  Napoleon. 
He  was  occupied  three  years  on  his  print  of  "The  Last  Supper,"  after  Leonardo  da 
Vinci,  which  is  his  masterpiece.  Morghen  was  associated  with  the  French  Institute  after 
the  year  1803,  and  he  visited  Paris  in  181 2  at  the  invitation  of  Napoleon,  who  honored 
him  with  many  presents.  By  Louis  XVIII  he  was  honored  with  the  decoration  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  and  the  Cordon  of  St.  Michael. 

Morghen  married  three  times,  and  left  several  children.  He  died  at  Florence 
in  1823. 

Paolo  Toschi,  the  greatest  engraver  of  modern  days,  was  born  at  Parma  in  1788. 
At  an  early  age  he  was  sent  to  Paris,  and  commenced  his  studies  under  Charles  C. 
Bervic  (who  had  been  the  most  successful  pupil  of  the  great  Wille).  He  soon  gave 
promise  of  his  future  excellence,  and  remained  in  Paris  till  1825.  Toschi  was  Bervic's 
favorite  pupil,  and  when  the  latter  was  overtaken  with  blindness  in  1818,  he  entrusted 
Toschi  with  the  high  honor  of  finishing  the  work  on  which  he  was  then  engaged — the 
Testament  of  Endamidas — a  work  now  very  rare.  After  finishing  this  great  work,  he 
returned  to  his  native  Parma,  where  he  was  welcomed  by  the  grand  duke  and  honored 
with  the  directorship  of  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  a  position  which  he  held  till  his 
death  in  1858.  He  found  a  liberal  patron  in  the  ducal  family  of  Parma,  and  was 
employed  chiefly  on  engraving  the  great  paintings  and  frescoes  in  the  church  of  St 
Paul  at  Parma,  which  had  been  liberally  decorated  by  die  hand  of  Correggio.  These 
engravings  are  now  held  in  great  esteem,  but  from  the  high  prices  at  which  they  are 
sold,  are  to  be  found  only  in  the  portfolios  of  the  wealthy. 

We  have  now  passed  in  review  the  illustrious  names  which  have  thrown  a  halo  of 
art-glory  around  Italy,  and  rendered  her  more  famous  than  her  warriors,  her  emperors, 
her  statesmen,  her  authors,  or  her  Popes;  and  in  modern  Italy,  although  we  see  a 
promise  of  a  revival  of  the  art-greatness  of  former  days,  especially  in  sculpture,  it  may 
be  hazardous  to  place  on  the  list  of  great  masters  any  name  that  the  verdict  of  the 
future  might  fail  to  confirm.  We  have,  however,  ventured — partly  in  a  spirit  of  con- 
fidence that  this  verdict  may  be  confirmed,  and  partly  from  a  desire  to  bring  the  history 
down  to  the  present  day — to  choose  examples  from  the  following  moderns:  Sculpture — 
Monti,  Fontana,  Rosetti,  Luccardi,  Monteverde,  Barzaghi,  and  Magni  ;  and  from  Passini, 
Campotosta,  and  Fontana  in  Painting;  but  without  comment,  believing  that  they  will 
speak  for  themselves:  there  are  doubtless  other  names  equally  worthy,  but  our  space 
forbids  a  more  extended  notice. 

The  studios  of  modern  Italian  artists,  painters  and  sculptors  (especially  in  Rome) 
are  among  the  most  delightful  visiting-places   in   this  delightful  country.     You  need   no 


ITALIAN  SCHOOL. 


83 


ceremonious    introduction    here;    you    merely    knock    and    enter.      Around    you    are    the 
workmen  and  their  labors — the  living  artists  who   cut  from  the  shapeless  marble-block 


From,  the  original. 


DOCTOR   JENNER. 


works  destined  to  last  ages  after  the  frail  human  hand  that  fashioned  them  has  mouldered 
into  its  native  clay — or  limning  on  canvas  imperishable  beauty,  which  will  there  remain 
(or  in  its  shadow — engraving)   for  the  world  "a  joy  for  ever." 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Happy  men,  seem  they  all !  for  all  true  lovers  of  Art  most  be  happy.  The  con- 
sciousness of  the  appreciation  of  beauty  is  a  joy  to  ever)  mind.  How  much  more 
must  be  the  pleasure  of  giving  that  consciousness  a  tangible  form,  an  enduring  exist- 
ence, rewarding  him  who  made  it,  gratifying  him  who  pos  it,  and  hundreds  yet 
unborn  who  may  gaze  on  it!  Master-minds  of  various  grades  of  life  there  are  many; 
but  the  poet  and  the  artist  have  the  most  powerful  mastery  in  the  witchery  of  their 
works  through  all  ages  of  change.  The  nature  of  their  studies  breaks  down  all  barriers 
which  nationality  or  custom  might  impose  elsewhere.  Looking  on  ever)'  visitor  as  a 
lover  of  art,  they  all  meet  on  common  ground,  whatever  their  native  country  may  be. 
It  would  not  be  easily  possible  to  conceive  an  existence  more  replete  with  the  elements 
of  happiness  than  that  of  a  true  votary  of  Art.  Removed  from  the  turmoil  of  life,  he 
exists  only  for  the  study  of  the  beautiful ;  and  if  his  course  be  checkered  by  the  crosses 
which  are  the  lot  of  all,  he  may  console  himself  by  knowing  they  are  fewer  than  those 
that  beset  the  more  adventurous  in  the  battle  of  life,  while  his  mental  organizations 
open  a  field  of  pleasure  closed  to  more  worldly  men. 

If  Italy  offered  no  other  lesson,  this,  that  teaches  the  amenities  which  Art  always 
offers  to  its  devotees,  whether  professional  or  amateur,  is  worthy  of  all  consideration — 

"Ve  nobler  arts!   as  life's  last  lustre  given, 
•  lililing  earth's  grossness  with  the  gloss  of  heaven, 
Th  your;  to  crown  complete  the  social  plan, 
Ami  harmonize  the  elements  of  man." 


' 


J.DZ  MARE.  SCULPT 


THE     ' 


■        ROYAl 


- 


THE   GERMAN    SCHOOL. 


IITTLE  is  known  of  "the  rosy  dawn  of  German  art."  When  the 
Germanic  nations  had  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  Rome,  and  when 
the  chaos  that  succeeded  the  overthrow  of  the  ancient  world 
had  subsided  into  something  like  order,  the  newly  founded  king- 
doms began  to  evince  their  independence  in  their  art,  as  well 
as  in  their  noble  national  poetry,  which  arose  about  the  same 
period. 

Gothic  architecture,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  petrified 
expression  of  the  religious  aspirations,  the  poetry  and  the  idealism  of  the  mediaeval 
mind,  had  its  rise  in  France  about  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  from  this  date 
we  may  trace  a  continued  development  in  the  art,  not  only  of  Italy  (though  by  the 
influence  of  Giotto,  that  country,  of  course,  took  the  lead  in  painting),  but  likewise  of 
less  favored  lands.  In  France,  Germany,  England,  the  Netherlands,  and  Spain,  Gothic 
architecture  bloomed  into  a  more  delicate  and  ideal  beauty  than  even  in  Italy;  and 
although  by  breaking  up  the  extensive  wall  surfaces  that  the  Romanesque  style  had 
afforded  for  painting,  it   hindered    to  a  certain    extent  the  free  exercise  of  the  painter's 

8? 


86  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

art,  it  nevertheless  burst  the  fetters  which  Byzantine  tradition  had  hitherto  imposed,  and 
gave  a  new  direction  to  his  thoughts. 

For  a  time,  it  is  true,  the  German  painter  hesitated  to  obey  this  impulse,  and  as 
the  miniatures  and  the  illuminated  manuscripts  (the  only  works  that  we  have  in  painting 
of  the  early  Gothic  period)  show,  remained  under  Byzantine  influence ;  but  even  in 
northern  Byzantine  illuminations,  an  independent  spirit  is  often  visible,  which  finds  its 
outlet  in  grotesque  shapes,  fantastic  animals,  and  other  quaint  devices.  The  forms,  also, 
in  the  later  illuminations  are  less  meagre,  and  the  outlines  less  hard,  showing  that  the' 
Ascetic  ideal  was  already  giving  place  to  the  Romantic. 

Painting  on  glass  was  carried  to  the  greatest  perfection  in  this  age  by  northern 
artists,  as  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  old  painted  glass  in  many  Gothic  cathedrals 
abundantly  testifies ;  still  the  restraint  that  the  mosaic-like  character  of  glass-painting 
necessarily  imposed,  contrasted  unfavorably  with  the  freedom  that  fresco-painting  offered 
to  the  Italian  artist. 

The  earliest  wall-paintings  of  which  we  find  any  mention  in  German  history  are 
some  said  to  have  been  executed  for  Queen  Theodolinda  in  the  sixth  century,  and  to 
have  represented  the  Victories  of  the  Lombards ;  but  of  these,  as  well  as  of  the  more 
important  paintings  with  which  Charlemagne  decorated  his  church  and  castle  at  Upper 
Ingelheim,  wc  have  only  the  historical  record,  none  of  them  now  existing. 

A  few  traces  of  early  German  wall-painting  still  remain,  however,  in  various  places, 
which  reveal  considerable  feeling  for  grace  and  simple  beauty.  More  particularly  in  the 
early  art  of  Bohemia  this  feeling  becomes  manifest. 

The  School  of  Bohemia  is  about  the  earliest  school  of  painting  that  arose  in  Ger- 
many. It  dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but  chiefly  flourished  in 
the  time  of  the  Emperor  Charles  IV  (1348-1378),  who  employed  several  native  artists 
in  the  decoration  of  his  castle  and  church  at  Karlstein,  near  Prague.  The  names  of 
three  of  these  artists,  namely,  Theodorich  OF  Prague,  Nicolaus  Wukmser  and  one 
KtJMZ  have  been  handed  down  to  us,  but  it  is  impossible  now  to  assign  to  them  their 
respective  work.  Moreover,  it  is  evident  that  many  more  artists  than  these  were 
employed  of  whom  no  record  remains. 

The  ruined  and  more  than  half- obi  iterated  wall-paintings  of  Schloss  Karlstein,  to 
which  F.  von  Schlegel,  in  1808,  was  the  first  to  draw  attention,  stand  in  the  same  relation 
to  early  German  art  as  the  earliest  paintings  of  the  Campo  Santo  to  early  Italian  art. 
They  were  about  the  first  efforts  of  independent  national  genius,  working  still,  it  is  true, 
from  Byzantine  models,  but  infusing  into  them  a  new  spiritual  beauty.  The  Bohemian 
school,  indeed,  so  softens  the  harshness  of  the  Byzantine  type  as  to  render  it  somewhat 
weak  and  sentimental. 


GERMAN   SCHOOL.  87 


The  School  of  Nurnberg  during  the  early  Gothic  period  was  a  school  of  sculpture 
rather  than  of  painting.  It  produced  the  most  exquisite  carved  and  chiseled  works — 
works  which  more  than  rival  those  of  Italy  of  the  same  time  in  their  rich  fancy,  deep 
feeling  and  original  thought,  if  not  in  their  classic  spirit;  but  for  a  long  time  painting 
remained  entirely  subordinate,  and  was  only  used  to  heighten  the  effect  of  bas-reliefs, 
statues  and  wooden  carvings. 

The  preference  for  those  richly  carved  and  colored  wooden  altar-pieces  of  which 
we  still  find  so  many  specimens  in  German  churches,  had,  indeed,  at  this  time,  a  some- 
what depressing  influence  on  the  development  of  German  painting.  The  coloring  of 
these  altar-shrines,  which  were  entirely  filled  with  small  figures  in  magnificent  gilded  and 
damasked  drapery,  standing  in  relief  from  a  gold  ground,  was  often  the  only  employ- 
ment that  even  a  skilful  German  master  could  find.  This  was  especially  the  case  at 
Nurnberg,  where,  as  before  said,  sculpture  was  long  predominant.  We  find,  however, 
a  few  early  paintings  in  Nurnberg,  such  as  the  celebrated  Imhof  altar-piece,  executed 
about  1418-22,  and  the  beautiful  Virgin  with  Cherubs,  in  the  Lorenz  Kirche,  that  prove 
that  the  Nurnberg  masters,  even  in  painting,  were  not  behind  the  other  early  schools 
of  Germany  in  artistic  development.  The  Imhof  altar-piece,  indeed,  is  remarkable  for 
its  tender  sentiment^  graceful  forms,  dignified  expression,  and  beauty  of  color.  Its  centre 
compartment  represents  "The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin."  The  name  of  its  painter  is 
unknown. 

In  Suabia,  also,  German  art  appears  to  have  developed  at  an  early  date;  but  here, 
as  at  Nurnberg,  it  was  sculpture  that  was  principally  practiced. 

In  the  more  celebrated  and  better-known  School  of  Cologne,  on  the  other  hand, 
painting,  although  undoubtedly  preceded  by  architecture  and  sculpture,  rose  at  a  very 
early  date  to  separate  importance.  As  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  in  his  famous  romance  of  "Percival,"  in  describing  the  beauty 
of  his  knight,  declares  that — 

"  From  K6ln  nor  from  Maestricht 
No  limner  could  excel  him" — 

proving  that  even  at  that  date  Cologne  was  celebrated  for  its  "limners." 

Cologne,  indeed,  from  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  occupied  a  foremost  position 
amongst  the  cities  of  Germany,  and  a  constant  communication  was  kept  up  between  her 
and  Italy.  It  is  natural,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  Italian  and  Byzantine  artists  travelling 
northward  would  have  settled  by  preference  in  the  city  that  had  most  direct  intercourse 
with  the  south.  By  such  artists,  doubtless,  painting  was  first  taught  and  practiced  in 
Cologne,  and  their  scholars  formed  what  has  been  called  the  Byzantine-Rhenish  or 
Byzantine-Romantic  School,  the  principal  seat  of  which  was  in  Cologne. 


MASTER  PI  ECbS    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


The  chief  characteristic  of  the  Byzantine- Romantic  school  is  a  deep-seated  devotional 
sentiment.  The  harsh  asceticism  of  Byzantium  is  softened  to  a  tender  spiritual  beauty 
and  childlike  purity  of  expression,  such  as  only  Fra  Angelico  and  one  or  two  of  the 
Italian  purists  ever  attained.  Added  to  these  spiritual  graces,  if  so  they  may  be  called, 
we  find  in  the  early  Cologne  masters  a  true  feeling  for  form,  a  dignified  grace,  a  delicate 


fr»m  Ikt  original. 


SAMSON  SLAYING  THE   LION. 


fy  Alhtrt  Durtr. 


and  soft  execution,  and  a  sweet  harmonious  blending  of  color;  and  although  their  works 
lack  the  accurate  drawing  and  powerful  coloring  of  the  great  school  of  the  Van  Eycks, 
many  of  them  possess  a  wonderful  charm  of  their  own. 

The  first  of  the  "limners"  of  Cologne,  of  whom   we   gain   any    real    sight,  is   that 
patriarch  of  German  art,  Mkistkk  Wii.hklm  or  CoLOONS  (painting  in  the  latter  half  of 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


89 


the  fourteenth  century).  According  to  some  historians,  Meister  Wilhelm  was  born  at 
Herle,  but  he  appears  to  have  settled  at  Cologne  about  the  year  1358,  and  to  have 
formed  there  a  large  school.  Unfortunately  but  few  of  his  productions  survive,  or  at 
least  can  be  identified.  A  "Madonna  and  Child"  in  the  Wallraf  Museum  at  Cologne, 
however,  which  is  still  ascribed  to  him,  evinces  the  before-mentioned  characteristics  of 
his  school  in  a  remarkable  degree.  On  the  countenance  of  the  Virgin  there  is  an 
expression  of  the  most  heavenly  purity  and  peace.  No  earthly  emotions  disturb  her 
holy  contemplation,  as,  with  the  God-child  in  her  arms,  she  gazes  forth  from  the  gold 
back-ground   which    surrounds    her.      A   pure   harmony   of    color  adds   to   the   singular 


states :  "  Item.  I  have 
paid  two  silver  pennies  to 
have  the  picture  opened 
which  Meister  Stephan 
painted  at  Cologne." 
This  picture  was  the 
great  "Dombild,"  as  it 
is  called,  an  altar-piece 
still  preserved  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Cologne, 
which,  until  this  entry 
was  noticed,  had  always 
been  attributed  to  Meis- 
ter Wilhelm ;  but  when, 
in  addition  to  Durer's 
assertion,  the  name  of  a 
by  Hans  Balding.  painter,  Stephan  Lochner, 
or  Loethener,  was  actu- 
ally discovered  by  M.  Merlo  in  some  old  registers  of  the  years  1442  and  1448  in 
Cologne,  the  evidence  seemed  strong  in  his  favor.  Some  writers,  however,  even  now 
hold  to  the  opinion  that  Meister  Wilhelm  was  the  real  painter  of  the  Dom-bild. 

The  fame  of  being  the  painter  of  such  a  picture  as  the  Dom-bild,  the  crowning 
work  of  the  Cologne  school,  is  truly  worth  contending  for,  it  being  one  of  the  noblest 
and  most  beautiful  works  of  early  religious  art.  The  spiritual  ideal  is  never  for  a 
moment  forgotten  in  it,  but  the  figures  are  more  strongly  modeled,  and  have  a  greater 
naturalistic  freedom  than  in  most  other  productions  of  this  school.  The  realism  blended 
with  mysticism  that  produced  "The  Mystic  Lamb"  of  St.  Bavon,  of  Hubert  and  Jan 
Van  Eyck,  produced,  in  fact,  likewise  this  earlier  work  of  German  art,  which,  in  many 


beauty  of  this  old  work. 
But  the  fame  of  Meis- 
ter Wilhelm  has  of  late 
years  paled  before  the 
superior  merits  of  an- 
other master  of  the  Co- 
logne school,  Meister 
Stephan,  or  Stephan 
Lochner,  who  flourished 
in  the  first  half  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  and 
who,  it  is  possible,  was 
one  of  Wilhelm's  pupils. 
The  name  of  Meister 
Stephan  was  first  made 
known  to  critics  by  an 
entry  in  the  "Journal  of     From  the  original. 

.„  THE  KISS  OF  DEATH. 

Albrecht    Diirer,'    which 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


respects,  may  be  compared  to  the  masterwork  of  the  Van  Eycks.  It  is  divided  into 
three  compartments,  the  centre  representing  "The  Adoration  of  the  Kings,"  whilst  on 
the  wings  are  St.  Ursula  and  her  Virgins,  and  St  Gereon  and  his  men-at-arms,  the 
figures  being  all  painted  on  a  gold  background,  with  a  depth  and  beauty  of  color 
which  almost  equals  Flemish  oil-painting  in  effect,  although  it  seems  to  be  painted  in 
tempera  on  wood.  The  dark-green  foreground,  studded  with  flowers  in  the  Flemish 
manner,  is  most  carefully  worked  out  and  extremely  beautiful ;  but  we  scarcely  notice 
details  in  looking  for  the  first  time  at  this  work,  so  impressive  is  the  mild  majesty  of 
the  enthroned  Virgin,  the  deep  reverence  and  love  of  the  noble  old  king  kneeling  before 
the  Child,  and  the  tender  beauty  and  innocence  of  St.  Ursula  and  her  companions.  On 
the  outside  of  the  wings,  as  was  customary  in  these  altar-pieces,  the  Virgin  Annunciate 
and  the  Annunciate  Angel  are  depicted,  the  only  paintings  seen  when  the  altar-piece 
is  closed.  These  figures  also  have  an  exquisite  tenderness  of  sentiment  and  deep 
spirituality. 

A  "Last  Judgment,"  conceived  with  great  dramatic  power,  but  with  very  little 
knowledge  of  form,  and  in  that  quaint  old  comic  spirit  of  symbolism  that  usually 
prevails  in  early  representations  of  this  subject,  is  also  ascribed  to  Meister  Stephan. 
There  are  many  other  curious  works  of  the  same  school  in  the  Wallraf  collection, 
which  is  peculiarly  rich  in  works  of  early  German  art.  There  are  also  many  scattered 
in  old  German  churches. 

Before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  influence  of  the  Flemish  school  was 
powerfully  exerted  over  the  masters  of  Cologne.  Their  spiritual  idealism  naturally 
gave  way  before  the  noble  realism  and  better  technical  methods  of  the  Van  Eycks,  and 
accordingly  we  find  that  most  of  the  German  painters  of  this  time  belong  to  the  school 
of  Rogier  Van  der  Weyden  rather  than  to  that  of  Meister  Stephan.  The  influence  of 
Flemish  realism  is  especially  apparent  in  the  works  of  a  German  master,  who  was 
formerly  but  erroneously  called  Israel  Van  Meckenen,  but  who  is  now  usually  styled 
after  his  principal  work,  "The  Master  of  the  Lyversberg  Passion"  (about  1463-1480). 
"The  Lyversberg  Passion"  is  in  eight  compartments,  representing  the  scenes  of  the 
Passion  of  Christ.  There  is  not  the  elevated  feeling  in  the  conception  of  this  work  that 
marks  the  creations  of  the  earlier  Cologne  masters,  but  on  the  other  hand  there  is  far 
greater  power  of  expression  and  knowledge  of  form,  and  much  richer  color.  The 
technical  execution  was,  in  fact,  greatly  advanced  by  this  painter,  and  a  more  natural 
life  infused  into  the  old  types,  but  the  pure  religious  feeling  of  the  Cologne  school  is 
only  now  and  then  apparent.  There  are  several  charming  works  ascribed  to  this  master 
in  the  cabinets  of  the  Munich  Gallery,  and  there  is  also  one,  a  "Presentation  in  the 
Temple,"  in  the  English  National  Gallery. 


GERMAN  SCHOOL.  9i 


Another  anonymous  painter  of  this  time  is  The  Master  of  "The  Death  of  the 
Virgin."  He  is  unfortunately  but  little  known,  and  consequently  but  little  spoken  of 
even  by  German  critics,  but  the  one  certain  work  by  which  he  is  known,  "The  Death 
of  the  Virgin,"  and  its  side  wings  representing  "The  Family  of  the  Donor"  (the  male 
portion  under  the  protection  of  St.  George  and  St.  Nicasius,  and  the  female  portion 
under  St.  Christina  and  St.  Gudula),  is  a  painting  worthy  of  being  classed  with  many 
of  the  most  extolled  works  of  the  school  of  Bruges.  It  has  all  the  power  and  color 
of  Rogier  Van  Weyden,  while  in  the  peaceful  beauty  of  the  Virgin  who  lies  dying  on 
the  bed,  there  is  a  touch  of  the  ideality  of  Meister  Stephan.  The  scene  is  laid  in  a 
chamber  wherein  all  the  Apostles  are  assembled,  as  is  usual  in  representations  of  this 
kind.  St.  John  supports  the  dying  Virgin,  and  St.  Peter  in  full  pontifical  robes  kneels 
by  her  side,  reading  prayers.  All  the  rich  details  that  the  Bruges  masters  loved  to 
introduce  into  their  works  are  present  here ;  on  a  footstool  in  the  fore-ground  lies  a 
rosary  and  an  incense-pot ;  a  mirror  hangs  on  the  wall,  and  also  a  small  painted  altar- 
piece,  in  which  one  can  distinguish  that  the  middle  compartment  represents  the  creation 
of  Eve,  and  the  wings,  the  figures  of  Moses  and  Aaron. 

There  are  two  repetitions  of  this  work — one  in  the  Pinakothek,  and  the  other, 
slightly  varied,  in  the  Cologne  Museum.* 

The  exclusive  taste  of  the  preceding  generation  of  critics  for  the  works  of  the  later 
Italian  and  Dutch  schools  caused  the  paintings  of  the  German  schools,  which  were  stig- 
matized as  hard  and  barbarian,  to  be  overlooked.  Germany  has  only  within  the  present 
century  awakened  to  the  importance  of  her  own  national  art,  the  Italian  mania  having 
previously  prevailed  there,  as  elsewhere.  To  Goethe,  more  than  to  any  one  else,  belongs 
the  distinction  of  having  first  drawn  the  attention  of  his  countrymen  to  the  merits  of 
these  early  German  masters.  He  was  followed  by  the  enthusiastic  critic  F.  von  Schlegel, 
who  reminded  the  rising  artists  of  his  day  that,  "next  to  the  finest  of  the  old  Italians, 
the  style  of  the  German  masters  well  deserved  their  study." 

Two  brothers  named  Boisseree  also  made  a  collection  of  all  the  old  German 
paintings  they  came  across,  especially  those  of  the  Cologne  school.  This  collection  they 
sold  to  the  king  of  Bavaria,  and  it  now  forms  part  of  the  great  Munich  Gallery.  Other 
German  galleries  also  are  now  abundantly  stocked  with  works  of  the  same  school,  so 
that,  after  being  interested  at  first,  the  traveller  in  Germany  is  apt  to  get  a  little  bored 
with  these  early  German  painters,  particularly  as  in  many  cases  their  art  is  extremely 
crude  and  hard,  and  the  subjects  they  chose  for  representation  were  too  often  martyr- 
doms, rendered  with  all  their  repulsive  details.     For  it  must  not  be  supposed   that   the 

•  As  an  example  of  the  realistic  detail  of  this  picture,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  a  corner  of  the  rich  carpet  in  one  of  the  wings   is 
positively  painted  on  the  frame,  as  if  it  hung  over  it. 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


majesty  and  sweetness  of  Meister  Stephan,  or  the  powerful  realism  of  the  master  of 
"The  Death  of  the  Virgin,"  was  reached  by  all  or  even  many  of  the  German  masters 
of  this  time.  A  large  proportion  of  them  continued,  even  after  the  revival  that  art  had 
experienced   in    Italy  and   the   Netherlands,  to  work  on  in   the  old  Byzantine  trammels, 


from  tki  original. 


BURGKMAIR  AND   HIS  WIFL 


ty  Johann  Burgkmair. 


and,  indeed,  we  find,  even  in  the  sixteenth  century,  after  the  free  schools  of  Upper 
Germany  had  attained  to  a  noble  national  development,  that  the  Byzantine  type  was,  in 
many  instances,  still  perpetuated  in  the  Lower  Rhine  schools. 

BartolomAus  Bruvn,  a  Cologne  master  living  at  the  same  time  as  DUrer,  in  another 
way  also   utterly  missed   the   development  of  the   stirring   reformation   age.      His  early 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


93 


works   are    somewhat   allied   in    style   to   those   of   the   master   of  "The   Death   of  the 


From  the  original, 


THE  MEIER  MADONNA,   BY  HOLBEIN. 


at  Dresden. 


Virgin,"  whose  pupil  he  is  said  to  have  been,  but  in  his  later  ones  an  Italian  influence 
is  perceptible,  which  wholly  undermines  their  genuine  character. 


Q4  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

N. 

The  spiritual  life  of  the  Byzantine-Romantic  school  had  by  this  time,  in  fact,  com- 
pletely died  away.  That  unquestioning  obedience  to  the  Church  of  Rome  which  had 
been,  perhaps,  a  salutary  discipline  in  the  arr^as  well  as  the  life  of  the  European  nations 
in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  was  felt  in  Germany  sooner  than  elsewhere  as  a  galling 
restraint  by  the  inquiring  minds  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  Reason  asserted 
her  claims,  and  the  Teutonic  intellect,  now  advanced  beyond  childhood,  listened  to  her 
voice,  and  was  the  first  to  break  the  chains  wherewith  Rome  still  sought  to  bind  die 
nations  to  her  footstool. 

In  Italy,  when  under  the  Medici  the  spirit  of  progress  and  rationalism  prevailed, 
art,  as  we  have  seen,  turned  for  inspiration  to  the  classic  works  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
and  sought  knowledge  in  ancient  writers,  and  beauty  in  antique  forms ;  but  German  art, 
in  casting  off  the  traditions  of  Catholic  Rome,  did  not,  like  Italy,  receive  the  teaching 
and  adopt  the  language  of  Pagan  Rome,  but  immediately  set  to  work  to  express  German 
thought  in  honest  German  language.  It  is  in  its  national  character  and  its  intellectual 
and  moral  dignity  diat  the  real  worth  of  German  art  lies  at  this  date,  and  not  in  classic 
grace  or  sensuous  beauty. 

Of  what  may  appropriately  be  called  the  Reformation  school  of  Germany,  Albrecht 
Diirer  and  Hans  Holbein  the  Younger  were  the  two  chief  masters. 

Albrecht  DOrer  (born  at  Niirnberg,  1471,  died  1528)  was  the  son  of  a  working 
goldsmith,  and  himself  worked,  for  some  time,  at  his  father's  trade;  but  "his  inclination 
carrying  him  more  towards  painting  than  to  goldsmiths'  work,"  his  father  bound  him 
apprentice  to  Michael  Wohlgemuth,  with  whom  he  served  for  three  years.  To  these 
student  years  {Lehrjahre)  succeeded  four  years  of  travel  ( Wandcrjahre),  of  which,  unfor- 
tunately, we  have  no  record.  On  his  return  he  settled  in  his  native  town  as  a  painter, 
and  married  Agnes  Frey,  with  whom  it  is  supposed  he  lived  very  unhappily.* 

In  1505  Diirer  undertook  a  journey  on  horseback  to  the  north  of  Italy,  and  was 
kindly  received  by  the  painters  of  Venice.  Especially  Giovanni  Bellini,  whom  Diirer 
calls  'the  best  painter  of  them  all,"  noticed  the  German  artist,  and  highly  praised  his 
work.  This  visit  to  Venice  formed  a  bright  episode  in  Dlirer's  restrained  work-a-day 
life.  "I  wish  you  were  here,"  he  writes  to  Pirkheimer,  from  Venice.  "There  are  so 
many  pleasant  companions  amongst  the  Waischcn"  (an  old  German  term  for  Italians), 
"that  it  does  one's  heart  good  to  be  with  them:  learned  men,  good  lute-players,  pipers, 
connoisseurs  in  art, — all  very  noble-minded,  upright,  virtuous  people,  who  bestow  on  me 
much  honor  and  friendship."     And  in  another  letter  he  says:  "Here  I  am  a  gentleman, 


*  WUlibald  Plrahalwr.  in  a  letter  written  some  time  after  Diirer'i  death,  tells  his  correspondent  that  Agnes  Frey,  by  her  fretful  temper 
and  bitter  tongue  worried  her  husband  to  death.  On  (he  other  hand,  Agnes  Frey  has  of  late  years  found  several  vindicators,  wbo  attribute 
Pirkheimer  »  injurious  expressions  to  malic*. 


H 
g    3 


H 


o 


o 


Pi 


3      S 


Pi 

H 
O 


w 
s 

H 

2 
o 


GERMAN  SCHOOL.  95 


whilst  at  home  I  am  only  a  parasite.  Oh,  how  I  shall  freeze  after  this  sunshine !"  Yet 
at  the  end  of  1506  he  returned  to  Niirnberg,  refusing  an  offer  of  two  hundred  ducats 
a  year  that  had  been  made  him  by  the  Venetian  Government  if  he  would  settle  at 
Venice.  Whilst  at  Venice  he  executed  a  great  altar-piece  for  the  guild  of  German 
merchants,  which,  he  tells  us,  effectually  silenced  the  jealous  assertion  of  the  Venetians, 
that  "although  he  was  a  good  engraver,  he  did  not  know  how  to  color."  This  painting 
— "The  Feast  of  the  Rose-garlands" — is  now  preserved  in  the  monastery  of  Strahof, 
near  Prague.  It  represents  the  Virgin  with  a  Pope,  an  Emperor  (Maximilian),  numerous 
saints  and  knights,  and  various  members  of  the  German  guild  kneeling  before  her,  and 
receiving  crowns  of  roses  from  her  hands,  or  those  of  the  Child.  St.  Domenic,  the 
founder  of  the  feast,  stands  to  the  right,  and  also  crowns  with  roses  a  monk  of  his 
order.  In  this  painting  we  see  that  Diirer  had  greatly  overcome  the  hard  and  unlovely 
manner  gained  from  Wohlgemuth,  which  characterizes  his  earlier  works,  and  yet  it  is 
strange  to  notice  how  very  little  influence  Italian  art  had  over  him.  "The  Venetians," 
he  says,  "abuse  my  style,  and  say  that  it  is  not  after  the  antique,"  and  their  criticism 
was  true  enough.  Nothing  can  well  be  less  antique  than  his  strongly  marked  individu- 
ality and  genuinely  national  mode  of  expression.  Even  in  the  Madonna  of  "The  Rose- 
garlands,"  which  ranks  as  one  of  his  most  beautiful  and  poetical  works,  and  which  was 
painted  while  under  the  immediate  influence  of  the  works  of  the  great  masters  of  Venice, 
we  find  no  trace  of  imitation  of  their  style,  nor  adoption  of  their  ideas.  On  his  return 
from  Venice,  it  is  true,  he  executed  two  large  single  figures  of  Adam  and  Eve  (now  in 
the  Royal  Gallery  at  Madrid),  which,  perhaps,  might  have  been  intended  to  rival  the 
nude  displays  of  Italian  art;  but,  if  so,  this  was  but  a  solitary  and  probably  conscious 
effort,  and  did  not  in  the  least  affect  the  thorough  independence  of  his  genius. 

To  the  period  immediately  following  his  return  from  Venice  belong  some  of  the 
finest  and  most  original  of  his  works.  His  powers  had  now  reached  their  full  perfection, 
and  from  this  time  until  the  journey  to  the  Netherlands,  in  1520,  may  be  reckoned  the 
most  productive  period  of  his  life — the  blooming-time  of  his  art.  Before  this — namely,  in 
1498 — he  had  already  published  the  powerful  wood-cuts  of  "The  Apocalypse,"  in  which 
the  mystic  and  fantastic  spirit  before  spoken  of  as  lingering  in  German  art,  first  assumed 
distinct  shape.  These  wood-cuts  are,  moreover,  important  as  marking  a  period  in  the 
history  of  wood- engraving,  they  being  far  superior  not  only  in  design,  but  also  in  execu- 
tion, to  anything  that  had  previously  appeared. 

In  151 1  he  followed  up  the  success  of  his  "Apocalypse"  series  by  another  magnificent 
set  of  large  cuts  known  as  "  The  Great  Passion  ;"  a  set  of  thirty-seven  smaller  ones, 
called  "The  Little  Passion,"  and  the  series  of  "The  Life  of  the  Virgin."  To  the  same 
fertile  year  belongs  also  the  great  painting  of  "The  Adoration  of  the  Trinity"   (now  in 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


the  Belvedere  at  Vienna),  which  is  usually  considered  to  be  his  finest  painted  work.  In 
this,  God  the  Father,  throned  on  the  double  rainbow,  holds  forth  for  the  love  and 
adoration  of  the  Christian  church,  the  form  of  his  crucified  Son,  while  the  Dove  of  the 
Spirit  hovers  above.  Two  bands  of  the  glorified  elect  approach  on  either  side,  the  female 
saints  being  led  by  the  Virgin  Mary,  who,  it  is  significant  to  notice,  has  not  the  same 
prominent  position  accorded  to  her  here  as  is  usual  in  Catholic  art  Below,  but  still 
caught  up  into  the  air  with  Christ,  are  the  various  classes  and  conditions  of  men — 
emperor,  pope,  monk,  peasant,  knight,  and  burgher,  all  expressing  die  same  incompre- 
hensible faith,  and  worshipping  the  mystic  Trinity  in  unity. 
Another  of  his  great- 


est religious  paintings 
represented  "The  Coro- 
nation of  the  Virgin." 
It  was  painted  for  the 
Frankfort  merchant,  Ja- 
cob Heller,  and  several 
of  Diirer's  letters  re- 
specting it  are  preserved, 
but  unfortunately  the  pic- 
ture itself  perished  by 
fire  in  1674.  An  excel- 
lent copy  of  it,  however, 
still  hangs  in  the  old 
Town  Gallery,  at  Frank- 
fort.    It  must  have  been 


From  the  original 

QUIS   EVADET? 


by  Coltxiui. 


a  grand  work.  But  the 
masterwork  of  Diirer's 
art  is  undoubtedly  found 
in  "The  Four  Apostles 
of  the  Pinakothek"  at 
Munich.  So  strikingly 
contrasted  are  the  char- 
acters of  the  Apostles  St 
John  and  St.  Peter,  St 
Paul  and  St  Mark,  that 
it  has  been  supposed  that 
Diirer  meant  to  symbol- 
ize the  Four  Tempera- 
ments by  them,  but  there 
is  nothing  beyond  this 
forcible  individualization 


of  character,  and  a  vague  statement  of  Neudorffer's,  whereon  to  found  such  a  theory. 
In  these  noble  figures,  which  are  the  size  of  life,  Diirer  has  thoroughly  overcome  all  the 
hardness  and  mannerism  of  his  early  style,  and  has  attained  to  a  simple  grandeur  of 
expression  and  deep  harmony  of  color  that  may  bear  comparison  with  almost  any  Italian 
work  of  his  time.  Without  exaggeration  or  mannerism,  or  Germanism,  or  Italianism,  he 
has  set  forth  with  all  the  power  of  his  great  intellect  his  conception  of  the  Four  Teachers 
of  pure  Christian  doctrine  before  that  doctrine  had  been  corrupted  by  the  traditions, 
superstitions  and  vain  ceremonies  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Kugler  calls  these  pictures 
"the  first  complete  work  of  art  produced  by  Protestantism,"  and  it  is  possible  that  Diirer 
may  have  remembered  some  of  his  conversations  with  Melancthon  when  he  painted  them; 
but  it  is  not  Protestantism  or  Catholicism,  or  any  other  "ism,"  that  they  express,  but 
the  artist's  own  individual  thought  on  the  subject  unbound  by  any  creed  whatever,  and 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


97 


free  from  the  dogmas  of  any  Church.  They  were  executed  in  1526,  two  years  before 
his  death,  and  as  if  with  a  consciousness  that  this  was  the  final  expression  of  his  art, 
he  refused  to  sell  these  works,  but  presented  them  as  "a  remembrance  to  his  native 
town."*  But  it  is  less  by  his  paintings  than  by  his  engraved  works  that  Diirer  is  known 
to  the  world.  His  paintings,  even  if  we  reckon  all  that  are  attributed  to  him,  are  but 
few  and  scattered,  and  none  of  them,  except  perhaps  "The  Apostles,"  are  equal  in 
dignity  of  form   or  harmony  of  color   to    the   works    of  the   great   Italians  of  his   time, 


From  the  original, 


THE   DEATH   OF  ADONIS. 


by  y.  Rottcnhamcr. 


but  his  engravings  are  fantastic  poems  of  which  we  never  grow  weary,  for  there  is  a 
sense  of  mystery  in  them  that  exerts  a  powerful  fascination  over  the  mind.  Every  one 
knows  the  celebrated  print  of  "The  Knight,  Death  and  the  Devil."  Each  time  we  see 
it  we  regard  it  with  fresh  interest,  and  although  we  may  not  be  poets  like  Fouque,  who 
founded  upon  it  his  wild  and  romantic  tale  of  Sintram,  yet  we  cannot  help  constructing 
some  theory  to  explain  its  strange  charm.  To  how  many  theories,  likewise,  has  that 
weird   conception    called    "Melancholia"  given    rise!      The  grand  winged  woman,  sitting 

brooding  in  darkness  of  mind  over  the  hidden  mysteries  of  nature,  while  the  insufficient 

1 

*  Only  copies  now  hang  in  the   Rath-haus  of  Niirnberg,  the   originals  having  been  given  up  by  the  Rath,  or  Town   Council,  to   the 
elector  Maximilian  in  the  seventeenth  century.     They  are  now  in  the  first  Saal  of  the  Pinakothek. 


98  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


instruments  of  human  science  lie  scattered  around — symbols  of  man's  futile  endeavors 
to  reach  heavenly  wisdom.  In  "The  Coat  of  Arms,  with  the  Death's  Head,"  also,  a  less 
known  engraving,  and  many  other  of  his  prints,  the  same  sense  of  mystery  prevails. 
Of  the  execution  of  his  engravings,  no  praise  can  be  too  great.  They  are  often  perfect 
miracles  of  delicacy  and  finish. 

In  1520  Albrecht  Durer,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  undertook  a  journey  to  the 
Netherlands,  probably  with  a  view  of  gaining  from  the  newly  elected  emperor,  Charlie  V  . 
an  acknowledgment  or  ratification  of  the  debt  due  to  him  from  the  emperor  Maximilian, 
and  also  a  continuance  of  his  position  as  court-painter.  The  journal  that  he  kept  during 
this  tour  has  been  preserved,  and  gives  many  interesting  details  of  artist-life  at  that 
period.  Everywhere  he  was  received  with  high  honor  and  cordial  esteem,  and  his  visit 
appears  to  have  afforded  him  the  greatest  satisfaction.  At  Antwerp  die  Guild  of  Painters 
gave  a  grand  banquet  in  his  honor,  at  which  he  tells  us  "they  spared  no  expense." 
"When  I  was  going  in  to  the  dinner,"  he  says,  "all  the  people  formed  in  a  line  on  two 
sides  for  me  to  pass  through,  as  though  I  had  been  a  great  lord.  When  I  was  seated 
at  table  there  came  a  messenger  from  the  Senate  at  Antwerp,  who  presented  me  with 
four  tankards  of  wine  in  the  name  of  the  Senators  (Raths  lurni),  and  he  said  that  they 
desired  to  honor  me  with  this,  and  that  I  should  have  their  good-will.  Then  I  said  that 
I  gave  them  my  humble  thanks  and  offered  them  my  humble  service." 

These  marks  of  respect  from  foreigners  were,  perhaps,  the  more  pleasing  to  Durer, 
as  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  held  in  any  high  honor  in  his  native  town.  At  all 
events,  in  writing  once  to  the  Rath  of  Nurnberg,  he  told  his  noble  lords  that  for  thirty 
years  during  which  he  had  worked  in  the  town  he  had  never  received  so  much  as  five 
hundred  florins  of  Nurnberg  money,  although  both  at  Venice  and  Antwerp  he  had  been 
offered  a  munificent  sum  if  he  would  remain  in  those  cities.  In  another  place,  also,  he 
speaks  of  his  circumstances  as  "lamentable  and  shameful."  Germany,  indeed,  had  at  this 
time  no  munificent  patrons  of  art,  such  as  those  we  have  seen  in  Italy,  to  give  worthy 
employment  to  her  artists.  Holbein,  as  we  know,  was  forced  to  go  to  England  to  seek 
his  fortune,  and  Durer  once  wrote,  "Henceforth  I  shall  stick  to  my  engraving.  If  I  had 
done  so  before  I  should  be  richer  by  one  thousand  florins  than  I  am  at  the  present 
day."  But,  although  he  had  but  few  patrons,  Diirer  was  the  friend  of  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  his  time.  Melancthon,  the  most  liberal-minded  reformer  of 
his  age,  had  the  truest  regard  for  him.  "I  grieve,"  he  wrote  at  Diirer's  death,  "for 
Germany,  deprived  of  such  a  man  and  such  an  artist;"  and  again  he  records,  "His 
least  merit  was  his  art"  Luther,  also,  appears  to  have  been  personally  known  to  him, 
and  from  an  outburst  of  feeling  in  his  journal  on  the  occasion  of  Luther's  supposed 
captivity,  it   is   evident   how  deeply  Dtlrer  sympathized   with   the   reforming   spirit   that 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


99 


Luther  had  evoked,  although  it  is  not  certain  that  he  ever  entirely  withdrew  from  com- 
munion with  the  Church  of  Rome.  For  Erasmus,  with  whom  he  became  acquainted  in 
the  Netherlands,  he  had  less  respect,  but  he  has  given  us  a  most  characteristic  portrait 
of  him,  as  well  as  of  Melancthon. 

Like  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Diirer  was   not  limited  to  one  mode  of  expression.     He 
was  an  architect  and  sculptor  as  well  as  a  painter  and  engraver.     He  was  likewise  the 
author  of  several  scientific  treatises,  one  in  particular,  on  human  proportion,  which  was 
for  a  long  time  the  received  text-book  on  the  subject,  and  was  translated  into   several  ( 
languages. 

The  portraits  he  has  left  us  of  himself,  more  especially  the  well-known  one  of  the 
Munich  Gallery,  show  us  a  noble,  thoughtful  countenance,  with  large  melancholy  eyes, 
far-seeing,  and  yet  full  of  human  sympathy.  The  hair,  parted  in  the  middle,  flows  down 
in  rich  curls  on  to  the  shoulders,  as  in  the  usual  portraits  of  Christ.*  The  hand,  holding 
the  fur  collar  of  the  coat,  is  exquisitely  formed.  Altogether  we  recognize,  as  Camerarius 
says,  that  "nature  had  given  him  a  form  well  suited  to  the  beautiful  spirit  which  it 
held  within." 

Diirer  had  a  considerable  number  of  pupils  and  followers,  but  most  of  them  are 
better  known  as  engravers  than  as  painters.  The  term  "Little  Masters,"  which  is  often 
made  to  include  the  whole  following  of  Diirer,  is  more  correctly  limited  to  seven  artists, 
all  of  whom  worked  during  some  part  of  their  lives  in  Nurnberg  under  Diirer,  or  under 
his  immediate  influence.  These  artists  were:  Heinrich  Aldegrever  (1502-55-65);  A. 
Altdorfer,  1 488-1 540;  Bartel  Beham,  1504-40;  H.  Sebald  Beham,  1500-50;  George 
Pensz,  1500-55;  Jacob  Bink;  Hans  Brosamer.  These  are  called  the  "Little  Masters," 
or  "the  Little  Masters  of  Niirnberg,"  on  account  of  the  small  size  of  their  prints,  few 
of  which  measure  more  than  three  or  four  inches  across,  some  being  much  smaller. 
Their  painted  works  are  for  the  most  part  extremely  rare,  and  not  remarkable  for  any 
particular  excellence.  Of  Hans  Sebald  Beham,  for  instance,  only  one  authentic  painting 
is  known.f  and  scarcely  more  of  any  of  the  others,  but  their  prints  are  often  met  with, 
and  are  highly  prized  by  connoisseurs.  Beham's  cuts,  etchings  and  engravings  alone 
amount  to  about  four  hundred.  They  are  wonderfully  skillful  in  workmanship,  and  show 
a  fertile  invention,  only  unfortunately  they  are  often  coarse,  indeed  indecent,  in  subject, 
a  fault  into  which  many  of  these  little  masters  fell,  although  their  master,  Diirer,  was 
singularly  free  from  it.  An  Italian  sentiment  prevails  in  the  later  works  of  several  of 
them.     As  Diirer's  influence  faded  they  became  less  German  and  less  truthful. 

»  The  likeness  of  the  Munich  portrait  of  Diirer  to  the  typical  head  of  Christ  has  been  often  remarked.      It  has  likewise  something 
of  the  character  of  the  Greek  Zeus. 

t  A  series  of  scenes  from  the  life  of  David,  forming  a  square  table  divided  into  four  triangles.      It  is  now  in  the  Louvre. 


IOO 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Holbein's  life  has  a  particular  interest  for  Englishmen  from  the  fact  that  the  most 
important  years  of  it  were  passed  in  their  country,  and  that  he  was  associated  with 
several  of  the  great  men  of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  Until  recently,  however,  the 
biographies  we  have  had  of  him  have  been  only  a  confused  mass  of  contradictory  state- 
ments. No  one,  for  instance,  knew  for  certain  where  or  in  what  year  he  was  born,  or 
when  he  died,  and  this  caused  endless  mistakes,  pictures  being  often  assigned  to  him 
that  were  dated  long  after  his  death. 

But  two  comprehensive  biographies  of  Holbein  have  been  published  within  the  last 


From  tkt  original. 


ZEUXIS   PAINTING   HELEN   OF  CROTON 


by  J.  Von  Sandrarl. 


few  years*  that  have  at  length  set  the  principal  facts  of  his  life  in  a  satisfactory  light, 
and  have  solved  many  of  the  questions  that  had  puzzled  preceding  writers.  With  two 
such  men  as  Woltmann  and  Wornum  working — the  one  in  Germany  and  the  odier  in 
England — on  the  same  subject  at  the  same  time,  it  is  not  indeed  surprising  to  learn 
"that  light  has  been  let  in  on  to  the  biography  of  Hans  Holbein;"  but  it  is  provoking 
to  find  that,  after  all.  it  is  only  facts   and  dates  that  arrange   themselves   more  clearly, 


•     Some  Account  of  the  Life  and  Work*  of  Hani  Holbein.  Painter  of  Augsburg."    R.  N.  Wornum.     1867.     "  Holbein  und  wine  Zrit." 
A.  Woltmann.     I-n|>«i«.  1866. 


'KE      BAVARIA. 


I  If  A  NTHALERS     : 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


101 


and  that  we  do  not,  even  in  these  biographies,  gain  a  much  closer  view  of  the  painter 
himself,  of  the  real  mind  of  the  man.  than  we  had  before. 

Hans  Holbein,  the  youngest  and  greatest  painter  of  the  name,  was  born  at  Augs- 
burg, in  1494  or  1495.  His  father  was  an  artist  of  considerable  merit,  by  whom  there 
are  a  number  of  paintings  in  the  Munich  Gallery,  as  well  as  several  at  Augsburg*  His 
mother  was  the  granddaughter  of  Thomas,  and  sister  of  Hans  Burgkmair,  so  that  on 
both  sides  he  may  claim  an  artistic  descent.  His  uncle  also,  Sigmund  Holbein,  was  a 
skillful  painter,  as  may  be  seen  by  an  excellent  though  stiff  portrait  by  him  of  a  Swiss 
Lady,  with  an  extraordinary  white  linen  cap,  on  which  a  fly  has  settled,  in  the  National 


Gallery.  Hans  Holbein, 
the  younger,  therefore,  was 
born,  so  to  speak,  into  an 
art-atmosphere  in  which 
the  hereditary  talent  that 
he  soon  showed  for  paint- 
ing was  carefully  devel- 
oped and  fostered.  When 
he  was  only  fifteen,  we  find 
him  receiving  independent 
commissions  as  well  as 
working  for  his  father. 

In  1 5 1 6,  he  left  Augs- 
burg, and  set  up  for  him- 
self at  Basel,  where  he 
soon  achieved  so  great  a 


From  the  original,  by  C.  IV.  E.  Dietrich. 

THE   RAT-CATCHER. 


reputation  that  he  was 
employed  by  the  town- 
council,  in  151 2,  to  paint 
in  fresco  the  council-cham- 
ber of  the  new  Rathhaus. 
Unfortunately,  most  of 
these  frescoes  have  been 
utterly  destroyed  by  damp, 
only  a  few  detached  frag- 
ments being  now  preserv- 
ed in  the  museum  at  Basel, 
but  by  the  sketches  and 
copies  that  remain  of 
them  they  must  have 
been  powerfully  designed 
works.    They  set  forth,  as 


was  usual  in  the   decorations  of  council-chambers,  the  virtue   of  justice,  especially  illus- 
trated by  examples  in  ancient  and  biblical  history. 

But  by  far  the  greatest  work  of  Holbein's  early  or  Basel  period  is  the  celebrated 
votive  picture  known  as  the  Meier  Madonna  (engraved  on  page  93),  executed  for  the 
Burgomaster  Jacob  Meier,  of  Basel,  and  representing  him  and  his  family  kneeling  before 
the  Virgin.  This  picture  has  recently  given  rise  to  a  storm  of  criticism.  Two  repetitions 
of  it  are  known  to  exist — one  in  the  possession  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  of  Hesse  at 
Darmstadt,  and  the  other  the  well-known  Holbein  Madonna  of  the  Dresden  Gallery, 
that  long  reigned  without  a  rival.     Whichever  was  painted  first,  there  seems  to  be  little 


*  Of  Hans  Holbein,  the  grandfather,  less  is  known ;  but  several  pictures  by  him  are  preserved  at  Augsburg,  in  which  the  heads  are 
said  to  have  a  thoroughly  portrait-like  character,  so  that  it  would  seem  that  a  realistic  treatment  was  adopted  from  the  first  by  the 
Holbein  family. 


102  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


doubt  that  both  examples  were  executed  by  the  master  himself  in  the  fulness  of  his 
power,  and,  in  reality,  then-  is  but  little  to  choose  between  them.  If  the  Darmstadt 
picture  has  greater  force,  the  Dresden  example,  on  the  other  hand,  has  greater  grace 
and  beauty,  and  however  critics  may  decide,  this  long-reverenced  picture  will  not  easily 
be  displaced  from  its  high  position.  It  is,  in  truth,  one  of  the  noblest  works  of  which 
German  art  can  boast :  earnest  in  thought,  powerful  in  characterization,  dignified  in  con- 
ception, pure  and  holy  in  sentiment,  and  of  a  solemn  beauty  unmarked  by  the  hardness 
of  the  German  style,  and  yet  withal  intensely  German  in  expression. 

Another  Holbein  Madonna,  recently  discovered  in  a  private  collection  at  Solothurm, 
is  praised  in  high  terms  by  Liibke.  It  represents  the  Virgin  enthroned  between  the 
German  saints,  Ursus  and  Martinus,  and  is  dated  1522,  and  belongs  therefore  also  to 
the  Basel  period 

In  1526  Holbein,  either  because  he  failed  in  obtaining  a  sufficient  reward  for  his 
labors  in  Basel,  or  from  some  other  cause,  quitted  that  city  and  went  to  England,  leaving 
his  wife  and  child  behind  him ;  but  that  he  deserted  his  family,  as  has  been  stated,  is 
a  question  open  to  extreme  doubt.  He  took  with  him  a  letter  of  introduction  from 
Erasmus,  with  whom  he  had  probably  become  acquainted  at  the  house  of  the  celebrated 
printer  Frobenius,  at  Basel,  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  who  received  him  most  kindly,  and 
lodged  him  in  his  own  house  at  Chelsea. 

In  1529  he  returned  for  a  short  time  to  Basel,  in  order,  it  would  appear,  to  finish 
his  paintings  in  the  Rathhaus,  but  very  soon  he  was  back  again  in  England.  England, 
indeed,  at  that  time  offered  a  far  wider  and  richer  field  for  his  art  than  the  impoverished 
cities  of  Germany.  The  Court  of  Henry  VIII  was  then  about  the  most  magnificent  in 
Europe,  and  as  there  were  no  English  painters  attached  to  it,  it  is  not  strange  to  find 
that  Holbein  was  soon  installed  as  court-painter,  or  "servant  of  the  king's  majesty." 
with  a  salary  of  £2,0  per  annum,  besides  rooms  in  the  palace.  The  oft  repeated  reply 
of  Henry  VIII  to  the  noble  earl  who  complained  that  Holbein  had  kicked  him  down 
stairs,  illustrates,  whether  the  story  be  true  or  not,  the  estimation  in  which  the  painter 
was  held  at  the  court  of  the  bluff  Tudor.  "I  can,  if  I  please,  make  seven  lords  out 
of  seven  plowmen,  but  I  cannot  make  one  Holbein  even  out  of  seven  lords;"  and  no 
one  but  a  Holbein,  the  sagacious  monarch  was  aware,  could  have  executed  those  incom- 
parable portraits  of  himself  and  his  courtiers. 

Although  Holbein's   portraits   and    religious   subjects  are   characterized   by  a  broad 
and  simple  treatment,  and  a  rigid  regard  for  truth,  yet    it  is   evident  from  some  others 
of  his  works  that  he  did  not  altogether   escape  the   fantastic  spirit  which  was  prevalent 
in  German  art  in  his  time.     This  is  especially  manifest  in  his  famous  "Dance  of  Death.' 
most  likely  executed  during  the  Basel  period,  but  not  published  until   1538,  at  Lyons. 


GERMAN   SCHOOL.  103 


The  enormous  popularity  of  these  death-dances,  and  similar  subjects  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries,  is,  indeed,  in  itself  a  striking  proof  of  the  deep  hold  that  this 
fantastic  mode  of  viewing  even  the  most  solemn  subjects  had  taken  on  the  imaginations 
of  the  people.  Tragedy  takes  the  form  of  burlesque,  but  the  skeleton  is  none  the  less 
appalling  because  it  cuts  capers  and  grins.  Nothing,  indeed,  can  be  more  weird  than 
Holbein's  conceptions  of  this  terrible  dance,  in  which  popes,  kings,  emperors,  lovely 
women,  children,  warriors,  priests,  and  peasants  are  obliged  to  bear  part.  No  one  is 
too  high  or  too  low  for  Death  to  claim  as  a  partner,  except,  indeed,  the  poor  leper 
Lazarus,  who  vainly  implores  Death  to  lend  him  a  helping  hand.  Holbein  employed 
wood-engraving  for  this  series  of  designs,  but  it  is  conjectured  by  some  writers  that  he 
likewise  painted  a  "Dance  of  Death"  in  fresco  either  at  Basel  .or  in  the  Palace  of 
Whitehall  in  London. 

It  has  always  been  known  that  Holbein  died  of  the  plague  in  London,  but  it  has 
not  been  proved  until  recently  that  it  was  the  plague  of  1543  to  which  he  fell  a  victim. 
He  died  some  time  between  the  7th  of  October  (on  which  day  he  made  his  will)  and 
the  29th  of  November,   1543.  V 

The  number  of  portraits  resembling  Holbein's  in  style,  that  are  found  both  in  public 
and  private  galleries,  would  lead  to  the  belief  that  he  had  a  goodly  number  of  followers 
and  imitators ;  but,  strange  to  say,  but  few  of  these  can,  with  any  certainty,  be  identified. 
Christoph  Amberger  (1490-about  1563),  although,  strictly  speaking,  a  pupil  of  the  elder 
Holbein,  evidently  owed  much  to  the  younger,  to  whom,  in  many  of  his  portraits,  he 
approaches  very  closely.  Nicolaus  Manuel,  generally  called  Deutsch  (1484-1530),  a 
Swiss  painter,  poet,  and  reformer  of  considerable  power,  studied  Holbein  with  great 
effect,  and  with  but  little  loss  to  his  originality.  There  are  several  remarkable  pictures 
by  him  in  the  interesting  museum  at  Basel,  where  so  many  of  the  quaint  and  crude 
works  of  early  German  art  are  preserved,  but  his  principal  work  seems  to  have"  been 
a  "Dance  of  Death,"  executed  in  fresco  on  the  cemetery- wall  of  the  Dominican  monas- 
tery at  Berne.  This  has  unfortunately  perished,  but  the  copies  that  still  exist  show  it 
to  have  been  conceived  in  a  humorous  rather  than  a  fantastic  spirit.  Deutsch  is  said 
to  have  studied  under  Titian  in  Venice    about  151 1.      He    is   known   to    the    Italians  as 

Emanuelo  Tedesco.  * 

1 

A  more  important  and  independent  master  is  Lucas  Sunl\er,  called  Cranach,  from 
his  birthplace  in  Franconia  (1472-15 13).  In  1493,.  Cranach  accompanied  Frederick  the 
Wise,  Elector  of  Saxony,  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  on  his  return  was  appointed  court- 
painter  to  the  Electoral  House  o'f  §axony,  an  office  that  he  held  under  three  successive 
electors,  the  last  being  the  noble  Frederick  the  Magnarfimous,  to  whom  Cranach  was  so 
much  attach^!  that  he  preferred    sharing   tha't   unfospnate    prince's   five  years'  captivity 

»■ 


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ra 

^ 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


105 


after  the  battle  of  Muhlberg,  to  accompanying  the  victorious  Charles  V  to  the  Nether- 
lands. He  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  at  Wittenberg,  where  it  appears  he  kept 
an  apothecary's  shop,  called  the  "Adler,"  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  market-place* 
He  was,  however,  a  man  of  high  mark  in  the  town,  and  was  twice  elected  to  the  office 
of  Burgomaster.     On  returning  from  his  attendance  on  the  Elector  during  that  prince's 


From  the  original, 


by  Frederick  Overleck. 


THE  ENTOMBMENT. 


imprisonment,  an  imprisonment  that  he  greatly  enlivened  by  his  art  and  cheerful  society, 
Cranach,  then  an  old  man,  retired  to  Weimar,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty.  A 
medal  was  struck  in  his  honor,  with  his  portrait  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  his 
crest — a  dragon  with  a  crown  on  its  head,  a  well-known  mark  on  his  pictures  and 
prints. 

Cranach's  art  is  thoroughly  national.      He   delights   in  quaint  invention,  and  some- 


*  This  "  Cranachhaus"  has  unfortunately  been  recently  destroyed  by  fire. 


io6  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


times  even  indulges  in  caricature.  His  pictures  have  a  cheerfulness  of  character  and  a 
certain  naive  childlike  grace  that  seems  like  the  unconscious  expression  of  the  happy 
disj>osition  of  the  artist  They  do  not  affect  us  in  the  same  way  as  those  of  Albrecht 
DUrer,  for  there  is  no  sense  of  mystery  in  them.  The  mind  of  Cranach  is  as  clear  as 
that  of  DUrer  is  dark  to  human  sight.  Even  his  allegories,  although  original  in  treat- 
ment, are  of  the  most  obvious  kind.  "The  Fountain  of  Youth,"  for  example,  a  painting 
in  the  Berlin  Gallery,  is  amusing  in  its  realism.  A  number  of  ugly  old  women  are 
dragged  through  a  barren  land  down  to  the  large  decorative  fountain  that  fills  the  middle 
of  the  picture,  and,  after  playing  about  in  its  waters,  turn  out  as  frolicsome  young 
maidens,  in  the  beautiful  country  that  lies  on  the  other  side.  He  excelled  in  the  delinea- 
tion of  birds  and  animals,  and  was  especially  fond  of  hunting-scenes.  The  border- 
drawings  by  him,  in  what  is  known  as  Albrecht  Diirer's  Prayer  Book,  are  admirable 
examples  of  his  skill  in  these  subjects.  His  mythological  pieces  are  far  less  pleasing, 
often,  indeed,  appearing  like  German  burlesques  on  classic  form  and  beauty.  His  por- 
traits, on  the  other  hand,  are  powerfully  conceived,  and  he  has  left  us  portraits  of  many 
of  the  most  noteworthy  men  of  his  time.  His  female  portraits  have  especially  a  peculiar 
charm.  There  is  a  wonderful  portrait  by  him  of  a  young  girl,  in  the  English  National 
Gallery,  which  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  his  style.  Although  so  richly  dressed,  and 
loaded  with  ornament,  the  little  girl  herself  is  exquisitely  sweet  and  unaffected,  and 
smiles  so  pleasantly  at  us  from  out  her  magnificent  trappings,  that  we  fall  in  love  with 
her  on  the  spot 

Of  Cranach's  large  religious  works,  a  Crucifixion — an  altar-piece  in  a  church  at 
Weimar — is  perhaps  the  most  important.  The  blood  from  the  wounded  side  of  Christ 
is  represented  as  pouring  on  to  the  head  of  the  painter,  who  stands  beneath  the  cross 
with  his  friends  Luther  and  Melancthon,  the  latter  in  the  character  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  directing  the  attention  of  the  other  two  to  the  Great  Sacrifice. 

It  is  by  his  engravings  that  Cranach  is  best  known.  He  executed  a  vast  number 
of  these,  both  on  wood  and  copper,  and  his  execution  was  so  rapid  as  to  gain  him  the 
title  of  "celerrimus  pictor"  on  his  tombstone.  Heller  enumerates  eight  hundred  of 
his  prints. 

After  DUrer,  Holbein  and  Cranach,  German  art  fell  from  its  high  independent 
position  to  a  mere  mannered  imitation  of  Italian.  As  in  Flanders  at  the  same  period, 
the  honest  national  mode  of  expression  was  entirely  deserted  by  the  German  artists  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  that  "frantic  pilgrimage  to  Italy,"  as  Fuseli  calls  it,  set  in, 
which  ended  in  the  utter  degradation  of  all  northern  art. 

Amongst  the  German  Italianizers,  Heinrich  Goltzius  (i  558-1 617)  is  one  of  the 
cleverest.     He  however  struggled  after  Michael  Angelo  in  distorted  dreams. 


GERMAN  SCHOOL.  107 


Johann  Rothenhammer,  who  was  born  at  Munich  in  1564,  was  the  pupil  of  a 
painter  named  Hans  Donnauer.  He  went,  when  still  young,  to  Rome,  where  his  works 
were  fully  appreciated,  but  a  desire  to  improve  his  color  caused  him  to  leave  the  papal 
capital  and  repair  to  Venice,  where  he  studied  the  works  of  Tintoretto.  After  an 
absence  of  many  years,  Rothenhammer  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  established 
himself  as  a  painter  at  Augsburg,  where  he  resided  until  his  death  in  1623.  Though 
he  had  been  much  patronized — especially  by  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II — Rothenhammer, 
owing  to  his  extravagant  habits,  died  in  poverty.  His  small  works  are  better  executed 
than  his  large,  and  of  the  greatest  merit  are  those  of  which  Paul  Bril  or  Jan  Breughel 
painted  the  backgrounds.  Rothenhammer  frequently  painted  on  copper.  Of  his  works 
which  are  numerous,  we  may  mention  a  "Death  of  Adonis,"  in  the  Louvre,  and  a  "Pan 
and  Syrinx,"  with  a  background  by  Jan  Breughel. 

Joachim  von  Sandrart,  the  painter  and  historian,  was  born  at  Frankfort  in  1606. 
He  first  studied  drawing  under  Theodor  de  Bry  and  Matthew  Merian ;  and  then 
engraving,  at  Prague,  under  Egidius  Sadeler,  who  advised  him  to  abandon  that  art  for 
painting.  Sandrart  accordingly  entered  the  school  of  Gerard  Honthorst  at  Utrecht. 
Decamps  and  other  writers  have  affirmed,  but  probably  erroneously,  that  Sandrart 
accompanied  Honthorst  to  England.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Sandrart  went  in  1627  to 
Venice,  thence  to  Rome,  where  he  dwelt  for  many  years,  the  companion  of  great  artists 
and  other  celebrated  men  of  the  day.  He  numbered  among  his  friends  Cardinal  Bar- 
berini  and  Prince  Giustiniani.  After  his  return  to  his  native  land,  Sandrart  executed 
many  altar-pieces  for  the  churches  of  Bavaria  and  the  convents  of  Austria.  Towards 
the  close  of  his  life  he  turned  his  attention  more  to  writing  on  art,  for  which  he  is  so 
justly  famous.  He  also  opened  an  academy  at  Nuremberg,  where  he  eventually  died 
in  1688.  Among  Sandrart's  pictures,  which  are  numerous,  the  most  noteworthy  are  "An 
Allegory,"  representing  Pallas  and  Saturn  defending  the  genii  of  the  Fine  Arts  against 
the  Furies  of  Envy,  in  the  Belvedere  at  Vienna;  a  "Celebration  of  the  Peace  of  West- 
phalia," formerly  in  the  Landauer  Briiderhaus,  at  Nuremberg;  "Zeuxis;"  and  "The 
Company  of  the  Amsterdam  Archers  at  the  Entry  of  Mary  of  Medici,"  in  the  town- 
hall  of  that  town.  Besides  historic  and  mythologic  subjects,  Sandrart  executed  many 
portraits. 

Of  Sandrart's  literary  works,  the  chief  is  the  "Teutsche  Academie,"  published  at 
Nuremberg  in   1675. 

Raphael  Mengs  (1 728-1 774),  in  the  eighteenth  century,  under  the  influence  of 
Winckelman,  the  first  modern  expounder  of  the  meaning  of  Greek  art,  attempted  to 
revive  the  severe  spirit  of  classic  art,  and  to  return  to  a  purely  ideal  conception  of 
human  nature.      He  only  succeeded,  however,  in  attaining  to  a  cold,  lifeless  eclecticism, 


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no  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

for  although  his  drawing  was  correct,  his  forms  ideal,  and  his  style  classic,  he  lacked 
the  inspiration  necessary  to  the  production  of  all  truly  great  creative  works. 

Christian  Wilhelm  Ernst  Dietrich,  who  was  born  at  Weimar  in  171 2,  studied 
first  under  his  father  and  then  under  Alexander  Thiele  at  Dresden,  where  he  was  much 
patronized  by  Count  Briihl.  Dietrich  was,  in  1730,  made  court-painter  to  Augustus  11. 
King  of  Poland  and  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  in  1741  he  received  the  same  appointment 
from  Augustus  III,  who  afterwards  sent  him  to  Italy  to  study  the  old  masters.  Dietrich 
remained  at  Rome  but  one  year.  In  1 746  he  was  made  keeper  of  the  Dresden  Gallery, 
with  a  salary  of  four  hundred  rix-dollars.  In  1763  he  was  made  a  professor  in  the 
Academy  of  Arts  in  that  town,  with  a  salary  of  six  hundred  rix-dollars,  and  also  director 
of  the  school  of  painting  in  the  porcelain  manufactory  at  Meissen.  Dietrich  continued 
to  live  honored  and  patronized  by  all  until  his  death  in   1774. 

Dietrich  is  the  Luca  fa  presto  of  Germany.  A  universal  imitator  and  fruitful  copyist, 
he  has  performed  in  the  north  precisely  what  Luca  Giordano  did  in  the  south. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  a  new  and  powerful  impulse  was  given  to 
German  art  by  a  few  youthful  and  aspiring  artists  who  were  at  that  time  pursuing  their 
studies  at  Rome,  and  who  almost  simultaneously  became  animated  with  the  desire  of 
reviving  not  so  much  the  material  form,  as  the  true  Christian  spirit  of  early  religious 
art.  Renouncing  the  vain  worship  of  sensuous  beauty,  and  rebelling  against  the  cold 
formalisms  of  academies,  these  artists  sought  once  more  to  awaken  that  feeling  for 
spiritual  beauty  which  had  formerly  inspired  Italian  art.  but  which  had  now  long  lain 
dormant.  Passing  by  the  great  masters  of  the  Renaissance,  they  turned  back,  therefore, 
like  the  English  Pre-Raphaelites,  to  the  early  religious  painters  of  Italy  for  guidance  in 
the  ways  of  truth,  and  endeavored  to  found  a  new  Christian  school  of  painting  on  the 
old  basis  of  faith  and  devotion  Foremost  in  this  movement  stand  the  names  of  Pkter 
von  Cornelius,  Friedrick  Overbeck,  Philip?  Yeit,  and  Wilhelm  Schadow. 

A  favorable  opportunity  was  soon  afforded  to  these  artists  for  expressing  their  prin- 
ciples, by  the  Prussian  Consul  Bartholdi,  who  in  181 6  had  his  villa  in  Italy  decorated 
with  frescoes  representing  the  history  of  Joseph.  These  were  the  first  of  several  vast 
series  of  frescoes,  both  in  Italy  and  Germany,  accomplished  by  what  is  called  the  Minn  11 
School,  a  school  that  especially  affects  large  monumental  works.  German  enthusiasm 
saw  in  these  ambitious  compositions  the  inauguration  of  a  new  and  glorious  epoch  in 
German  art  These  were  the  flowers  to  which  the  hard  buds  of  early  German  art  had 
expanded ;  but  unfortunately,  although  several  of  the  masters  of  this  school  were  men 
endowed  with  great  inventive  faculty  and  a  true  feeling  for  spiritual  beauty,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  the  power  was  wanting  to  them  to  give  to  the  revolution  they  achieved 
a  deep  and  lasting  importance.      One  chief  reason  for   diis  was  that  they  fell  back   on 


. 


iL 


■ 


■ 


GERMAN   SCHOOL.  in 


the  past  for  inspiration,  and  drew  their  ideas  from  fountains  which,  though  once  living, 
had  long  become  exhausted.  Overbeck,  indeed,  who  is  generally  regarded  as  the  founder 
of  the  school,  soon  went  wholly  over  to  Rome,  and  limited  his  art,  like  the  fourteenth 
century  masters  whom  he  copied,  to  a  mere  expression  of  Catholic  asceticism.  Cornelius, 
it  is  true,  has  given  to  his  works  a  far  wider  significance,  and  in  several  of  his  great 
frescoes  at  Munich  has  expressed  the  eternal  truths  of  religion,  apart  from  creeds,  with 
comprehensive  intellect  and  in  a  thoughtfully  ideal  style. 

Wilhelm  von  Kaulbach,  the  most  distinguished  pupil  of  Cornelius,  had  too  much 
originality  to  adhere  very  closely  to  the  ideal  style  of  his  master.  His  fancy  disports 
itself  in  less  exalted  regions,  and  he  often  seems  to  have  no  greater  aim  than  that  of 
mere  pictorial  effect.  Indeed,  it  soon  became  apparent  that  the  grand  Christian  ideal 
of  the  Munich  school  could  not  so  easily  be  reached,  and  that  even  in  the  works  of  its 
most  devoted  worshippers  it  had  found  but  a  cold  and  unsatisfactory  expression.  A 
realistic  reaction  accordingly  set  in,  and  the  Dusseldorf  School  arose  with  lesser  aims 
but  more  perfect  accomplishment  than  the  Munich.  At  the  present  day  this  school  is 
principally  distinguished  by  its  careful  and  clever  genre  painting. 

If  we  were  asked  what  a  religious  artist  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  like — if  any  one 
would  wish  to  learn  what  was  the  devout  life  and  the  earnest  work  of  an  old  Italian 
painter — we  would,  without  hesitation,  point  to  Overbeck.  Here  is  a  man  the  very  type 
not  only  of  what  history  tells  us  the  spiritual  painter  was,  but  also  the  personal  reali- 
zation of  that  which  the  mind  conceives  the  Christian  artist  should  be.  It  has  been  our 
privilege  not  unfrequently  to  visit  the  studio  of  this  venerable  man  ;  to  listen  to  his 
hushed  voice,  solemn  in  earnestness  of  purpose,  and  touched  with  the  pathetic  tones 
which  rise  from  sympathy ;  to  look  upon  that  head  gently  bowed  upon  the  shoulders, 
the  face  furrowed  with  thoughts  which  for  eighty  years  have  worn  deep  channels,  the 
forehead  and  higher  regions  of  the  brain  rising  to  a  saint-like  crown ;  and  never  have 
we  left  those  rooms,  where  Christian  Art  found  purest  examples,  without  feeling  towards 
the  artist  himself  gratitude  and  affection.  The  world,  indeed,  owes  to*  such  a  man  no 
ordinary  debt.  The  Art  of  Europe  had  fallen,  and  Overbeck  believed  that  to  him  was 
entrusted  its  restoration.  His  life  had  been  a  mission,  his  labor  a  ministration,  and  as 
years  rolled  on  a  gathering  solemnity  shadowed  round  his  work.  That  work  was  the 
building  up  of  the  ruined  structure  of  Christian  Art.  And  thus  Overbeck  became  the 
founder  of  the  modern  school  of  religious  painting,  and  his  name  is  now  identified  with 
the  forms  of  pure  and  spiritual  beauty  which  clothe  the  Christian  faith.  As  a  father, 
then,  of  the  so-called  "  Christian  school  of  painting,"  purified  from  paganism,  and  delivered 
from  the  carnal  allurements  of  corrupt  Renaissant  masters,  Overbeck  will  now  claim  our 
reverent  yet  critical  regard. 


114  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

The  life  of  Overbeck,  like  that  of  other  quiet,  self-contained  and  inwardly-centred 
men,  has  been  unmarked  by  startling  incident  Cornelius  was  born  at  Diisseldorf  in 
the  year  1787,  Overbeck,  his  brother  in  Art,  his  companion  in  labor,  his  fellow-citizen 
in  Rome,  came  into  the  world  two  years  later,  in  the  ancient,  gothic  and  gable-built 
town  of  Lubeck,  a  free  port  on  the  Baltic.  It  has  often  been  said  that  nature  never 
repeats  the  same  types,  nor  history  recurs  to  identical  situations;  yet  between  the  Art 
epochs  and  the  Art  leaders  in  Rome  of  the  sixteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries,  rise 
analogies  which  strike  the  mind  as  something  more  than  accidental.  In  these  periods, 
divided  by  an  interval  of  three  centuries,  were  alike  existent  two  opposing  schools,  the 
one  distinguished  by  spiritual  expression,  the  other  by  physical  power.  In  Italy  of  the 
fifteenth  and  the  sixteenth  centuries,  Fra  Angelico,  Perugino  and  the  youthful  Raphael 
clothed  Christian  Art  in  tenderest  lineaments  of  beauty.  On  the  other  hand,  Signortlli 
and  Michael  Angelo,  of  the  opposite  school,  attained  unwonted  grandeur  through  massive 
muscular  development  And  so  we  shall  see,  likewise,  it  happened  within  living  memory, 
when  new  birth  was  to  be  given  to  noble  Art.  that  the  two  contrary  yet  ofttimes 
co-operative  principles  from  the  first  prevailed,  the  one  steadfast  in  spirit,  the  other 
stalwart  in  the  flesh;  the  one  which,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  had  acknowledged  Raphael 
for  its  disciple,  the  other  which  was  proud  to  recognize  Michael  Angelo  its  giant  master ; 
the  one  which,  in  our  own  day,  inspired  the  loving  devotion  of  Overbeck,  the  other 
which  commands  the  stern  service  of  Cornelius.  Anil  thus,  as  we  have  said,  history  is 
here,  in  remarkable  analogies,  repeating  herself.  The  world  of  modern  German  Art,  as 
that  of  old,  divides  itself  into  two  hemispheres :  Overbeck  rules  as  the  modern  Raphael 
over  the  one;  Cornelius,  as  a  German  Michael  Angelo,  bears  iron  sway  over  the  other. 
Overbeck  is  the  St  John  which  leant  in  love  on  the  bosom  of  our  Lord ;  Cornelius  is 
St  Peter,  strong  as  a  rock  on  which  to  build  the  Church.  And  as  with  Michael  Angelo, 
followers  were  wanting,  so  with  Cornelius:  he  walks  in  diat  "terribil  via"  wherein  few 
can  venture  to  tread.  The  lot  of  Overbeck  was  more  blessed.  Like  to  Raphael,  his 
forerunner,  he  drew  by  love  all  men  unto  him ;  near  to  him,  through  fellowship  of  an 
endearing  sympathy,  warmed  by  the  emotion  which  beauty,  akin  to  goodness,  in  the 
universal  heart  begets. 

The  biography  of  an  artist  such  as  Overbeck  is  not  so  much  the  record  of  events 
as  the  register  of  thoughts,  the  chronicle  of  those  specific  ideas  which  have  given  to  his 
pictures  an  express  character,  and  the  recognition  of  the  living  faith  which  begets  fol- 
lowers and  creates  a  school.  Overbeck,  in  the  year  1808,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  went 
to  Vienna  to  pursue  his  studies  in  the  academy  of  that  city.  Already  we  find  his  mind 
brooding  over  the  thoughts  which  fifty  years  later  had  become  visibly  engraven  on  his 
countenance,  and  were  legibly  transferred  to  his  canvas.     Overbeck  in  Vienna  soon  grew 


Ed.  Grufzner  pirac . 


Adolf  Neumann  sculps 


HARD    X,XTCK; 


GKBB1E    &.-    BARRIE 


OF  0^0 


GERMAN   SCHOOL.  115 


impatient  of  cold  academic  teaching,  and  to  the  much-lauded  pictures  of  Guido  and 
others  of  the  eclectic  school  he  was  indifferent.  Enthusiasm  he  reserved  for  the  early 
masters  of  Italy  and  Germany,  whose  earnestness  and  simplicity  taught  him  how  far 
modern  painters  had  wandered  from  the  true  and  narrow  way.  Other  students  he  knew 
to  be  like  minded.  The  zeal  of  the  youthful  artists  seems  to  have  overstepped  discretion. 
Refusing  to  take  further  counsel  of  the  director  of  the  academy,  and  despising  the 
classic  style  then  in  vogue  at  Vienna,  Overbeck  and  his  associates  broke  out  into  revolt, 
and  were  in  consequence  expelled  from  the  schools.  This  happened  in  the  year  18 10, 
and  immediately  the  rebels,  nothing  daunted,  betook  themselves  to  the  more  congenial 
atmosphere  of  Rome,  and  there  chose  the  deserted  cells  of  the  cloister  of  St.  Isidor  for 
their  dwelling  and  studio.  The  Art-brotherhood  grew  in  zeal  and  in  knowledge,  and  for 
ten  years  these  painters  kept  close  company,  mutually  confirming  the  common  faith,  all 
putting  their  shoulders  together  to  meet  the  brunt  of  opposition. 

The  numerous  works  which  crowd  the  busy  life  of  Overbeck  afford  evidence  of 
teeming  invention  and  untiring  industry.  These  creations  are  divisible  into  three 
classes — outline  compositions  of  the  nature  of  cartoons,  frescoes  executed  in  churches 
or  palaces,  and  lastly,  oil  or  easel  pictures.  When  first  we  visited  the  studio  of  Over- 
beck, some  twenty-five  years  ago,  then  located  in  the  palace  of  the  Cenci,  his  rooms 
were  occupied  by  designs  executed  in  charcoal,  intended  for  engraving  and  publication 
in  one  of  those  series  of  religious  prints  which  have  since  obtained  universal  currency 
over  Europe.  Referring  to  our  note-book,  we  see  the  record  of  the  deep  impression 
made  on  our  mind  by  the  painter  and  his  works.  Here  was  a  man  who  lived  in  the 
presence  of  prophets,  patriarchs  and  saints,  and  who  seemed  to  have  entered  the  spirit- 
world  to  bring  down  to  earth  those  forms  of  purity  and  beauty  which  his  canvas 
revealed.  We  were  in  company  with  a  young  sculptor  in  whom  Overbeck  took  a  fatherly 
interest.  "What,"  said  the  venerable  man,  "are  you  now  studying?"  "I  have  received," 
said  the  sculptor  in  reply,  "a  commission  to  execute  in  marble  a  ballet-girl,  slightly 
draped."  A  cloud  shadowed  the  face  of  the  Christian  purist  as  he  saw  one  more  artist 
a  wanderer  from  the  fold,  allured  and  lost.  Designs  similar  in  character  to  those  to 
which  we  have  referred,  sometimes  slight  and  sketchy  in  outline,  and  sometimes  shaded 
into  roundness  and  hatched  with  detail — the  illustration  on  page  105,  "The  Entombment 
of  Christ,"  is  a  favorite  and  well-known  example — have  occupied  a  large  portion  of 
Overbeck's  labors.  This  is  a  style  of  work,  indeed,  for  which,  both  physically  and 
mentally,  he  is  obviously  expressly  fitted.  Wanting  in  bodily  vigor,  deficient  in  technical 
aptitude,  and  taking  no  delight  in  color,  these  simple  designs  in  black  and  white  did  not 
over-tax  his  powers.  Such  compositions  came  moreover  as  special  fulfilments  of  his  own 
Art  aspirations.     It  is  well-known  that  the  new-born  Christian  school  declared  all  painting 


II'. 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  APT. 


must  henceforth  I*-  "soul-painting,"  and  accordingly  the  shadowy  forms  found  in  these 
,11s,  frail  in  bodily  lineaments,  freed  from  fleshy  lusts,  and  delivered  from  die  vain 
adornings  of  fashion,  may  be  taken  as  the  deliberate  exponents  of  the  theory  held  and 
promulgated.  Coleridge  said  that  a  picture  was  a  product  occupying  an  intermediate 
position  somewhere  between  a  thought  and  a  thing,  and  this  aphorism  of  the  English 
poet-metaphysician  serves  to  show  the  attitude  held  by  Overbeck  among  painters. 
Artists  there  are  who  lay  strong  emphasis  on  the  "thing."  who,  to  borrow  the  favorite 
term  of  German  philosophers,  are  "objective,"  positive  in  line,  powerful  in  form,  and 
triumphant  in  all  outward  and  material  manifestations.  Overbeck  was  not  of  their 
number.  He  be- 
longed, on  the  con- 
trary, to  the  other 
category — paint- 
ers of  "diought." 
Long  before  his 
picture  became  a 
"thing" visible  and 
tangible,  it  dwelt, 
unencumbered  by 
gross  bodily  form, 
as  a  shadow)'  con- 
ception  in  the 
chambers    of   se- 


Fr—i  Ikt  erifinat. 


J'.  J/atttHclt.tvcr. 


THE  WINE  TASTERS. 


eluded  meditation. 
While  Overbeck 
the  devotee  knelt, 
as  did  the  monk 
Beato  of  Fiesole, 
in  his  church,  when 
he  walked  in  soli- 
tude along  the  si- 
lent cloister,  these 
"  t  h  o  u  g  h  t  -  p  i  c- 
tures,"  even  like 
"word-pictures" 
to  the  poet,  came 
crowding    to    his 

mind;  and  as  with  the  prophet  of  old.  so  with  the  prophet-painter  in  our  day,  would 
the  exclamation  arise,  "Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth."  Artists  like  these — such, 
for  example,  as  vision-seeing  Blake — live  in  close  communion  with  the  world  of  spirits ; 
the  heavenly  portals  arc  thrown  open,  and  rays  of  light  and  truth  shower  down  abun- 
dantly on  him  who  waits  and  watches  for  guidance  and  divine  conception.  Ideas  thus 
framed  or  communicated  seek  utterance,  and  no  more  facile  expression  can  be  gained 
than  that  sought  by  Overbeck  through  the  point  of  soft  charcoal,  which  readily  transfers 
each  inward  form  to  th<-  visible  surface  of  paper.  His  drawings  bespeak  whence  they 
come.  In  technical  qualities  they  may  fail,  in  physical  structure  they  may  be  feeble ; 
but  then  each  line  is  sensitive,  each  form  seems  begotten  in  realms  removed  from  this 
lower  sphere;  the  figures  belong  to  worlds  untainted  by  sin;  the  characters  are  the 
imaginings  of  a  mind  loth  to  look  outward  on  the  earth,  but  prone  to  gaze  inward  on 
consciousness  and  upward  towards  Deity.  Taken  for  all  in  all,  these  works  are  perhaps 
the  nearest  approach  to  disembodied  thoughts  possible  to  pictorial  forms. 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


117 


"Christ  Blessing  Little  Children"  is  deservedly  one  of  the  most  popular  among 
Overbeck's  numerous  compositions.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  though  Overbeck,  as 
a  spiritual  artist,  may  be  supposed  to  transcend  all  mundane  conditions,  yet  that  in  the 


From  the  original, 


PORTRAIT    OF    HASSENCLEAVER. 


by  J  P.  Hassencleuvcr. 


putting  together  of  this  design  he  studiously  conforms  to  the  technical  laws  of  compo- 
sition. He  seems  to  have  known  that  of  all  the  bases  upon  which  the  materials  of  a 
picture  can  be  built,  the  circle  is  the  most  pleasing  and  intelligible;  and  his  study  of 
historic  art  doubtless  told  him  that  many  renowned  works   owe  their  popularity  to  con- 


Il8  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


centration  of  the  eye  on  a  fixed  centre,  round  which,  at  the  circumference,  the  action 
of  the  story  revolves.  The  Saviour  stands  in  the  midst  with  upraised  hands  of  bene- 
diction, pronouncing  the  words,  "Whosoever  shall  receive  this  child  in  my  name,  receiveth 
me,"  and  "Whosoever  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is  greatest  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The  upper  portion  of  the  figure  is  maintained  in  undisturbed 
isolation;  the  head  of  the  Saviour  rises  to  a  culminating  point  above  the  surrounding 
figures,  and  thereby  dignity  and  importance  are  gained.  At  the  same  time  the  needful 
connection  with  the  bystanding  groups  is  secured  through  the  company  of  little  children 
drawn  around  the  Master's  feet.  The  accessory  figures  range  themselves  in  balanced 
symmetry  on  either  side,  and  are  skilfully  gathered  iuto  unity  by  lines  which,  in. broken, 
yet  with  recurring  contiguity,  indicate  a  containing  circle.  This  geometric  distribution 
has,  through  the  correspondence  which  connects  outward  form  with  inward  thought,  a 
value  felt  without  being  analytically  understood.  As  mental  discord  would  be  indicated 
through  disturbed  composition,  so  on  the  other  hand  are  inward  tranquillity  and  peace 
made  appreciable  to  sense  by  pictorial  symmetry  and  well-balanced  order.  Rightly  is  it 
saitl  that  order  is  heaven's  first  law ;  the  spheres  move  in  cadence  through  the  heavens, 
and  the  old  painters,  by  happy  intuition,  when  they  descanted  on  the  blessedness  of 
earth,  or  approached  to  the  bliss  which  reigns  in  the  upper  sky,  arranged  their  figures 
in  groups  of  appointed  harmony.  In  this  placid  concord  of  sweet  forms,  in  a  rest 
unruffled  by  the  strife  of  tongues,  in  an  inward  peace  which  makes  the  rugged  paths 
of  the  world  smooth,  and  the  current  of  life  to  flow  in  music,  the  compositions  of 
( )\  rrbeck  are  unsurpassed,  save,  perhaps,  by  the  designs  of  Angelico,  ever  supreme  in 
those  celestial  harmonies  the  cadence  whereof  the  modern  Germans  have  caught. 

Overbeck's  "Life  of  Christ,"  exemplified  in  forty  designs,  admits  of  interesting 
comparison  with  the  like  theme  depicted  by  Fra  Angelico.  Each  painter  being  leader 
in  the  same  spiritual  school,  their  works  naturally  possess  much  in  common.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  two  modes  of  treatment  arises,  in  fact,  from  the  wide  interval  of  four 
centuries  which  lies  between  the  artist  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  artist  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  painters  of  the  modern  German  school  wished  to  revive  the 
use  of  mediaeval  ages.  How  far  they  have  done  so  is  evident  on  a  comparison  of  one 
of  the  most  memorable  of  the  Lives  of  Christ  known  in  Italy  with  the  scarcely  less 
celebrated  series  published  at  Dlisseldorf.  The  simplicity  of  form,  the  symmetry  of 
composition,  the  solemnity  of  thought  which  we  admire  in  the  cloister  school  of  Over- 
beck,  can  be  traced  back  to  a  fountain-head  within  the  Florentine  monastery  of  San 
Marco.  But  Art,  during  four  eventful  centuries,  had  in  some  points  progressed,  and  in 
certain  other  directions  suffered  retrogression.  In  what  relates  to  spirit,  even  spiritual 
schools  have  gone   back ;   but   in   all  which   concerns   the   body,  in   all    that   pertains  to 


ENGRAVED    BY    W.  ROFFE  .  FROM  THE    MONUMENT    AT    BERLIN     BY    REIKKOLD     BEGAS. 


■  . 


GERMAN   SCHOOL.  n9 


outward  material  form,  modern  painters  have  moved  forward.  We  think,  for  example, 
that  no  one  will  pretend  that  Overbeck,  in  the  treatment  of  "The  Annunciation," 
approaches  the  monk  of  Fiesole  in  spiritual  purity  and  beauty.  Art,  then,  as  a  spirit- 
utterance,  as  a  soul-outpouring,  lacks  the  life  and  unction  of  other  days,  and  herein  she 
shares  the  common  lot  of  the  moral  and  metaphysical  sciences  which  cease  to  be  pro- 
gressive. But  Art  in  her  bodily  structure  partakes  of  the  onward  development  known 
to  new  physical  discoveries ;  and  hence  in  all  that  pertains  to  perspective,  foreshortening, 
anatomy,  the  cast  of  drapery,  and  even  the  management  of  an  intricate  composition, 
modern  painters  are  in  far  advance  of  their  early  forerunners.  On  these  points  Angelico 
was  the  child,  and  Overbeck  is  the  man:  die  child,  however,  in  all  things  else  is  father 
to  the  man. 

Overbeck's  "Holy  Family"  shows  how  faithfully  and  how  lovingly  the  modern 
German  painters  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their  Italian  predecessors.  Their  designs  are 
sometimes  modeled  on  the  works  of  Perugino,  or  are  derived  from  still  more  early,  and 
perhaps  even  more  devout,  conceptions  of  other  Umbrian  artists.  Sometimes,  again, 
their  compositions  take  us  to  Bologna,  in  memory  of  pale  and  placid  Francia ;  and  still 
more  often  to  Sienna,  to  commune  with  Pinturicchio  and  his  fellows.  How  closely  it 
may  be  permitted  with  impunity,  even  to  a  Pre-Raphaelite,  to  copy  Raphael,  the 
supposed  source  of  countless  evil,  this  "Holy  Family"  by  Overbeck  is  the  witness. 
Overbeck's  Madonna,  of  a  beauty,  yet  of  a  saint-like  dignity,  seldom  seen  in  the 
common  nature  known  to  modern  realistic  schools,  might  have  stepped  out  from  a  frame 
hung  in  the  Florentine  Tribune;  and  St.  Elizabeth  is  almost  identical  with  the  "Mother 
of  St.  John,"  as  portrayed  by  Sanzio.  Nor  does  the  transcript  of  Raphaelesque  forms 
stop  here. 

Overbeck  died  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty  years ;  he  reared  to  himself  a  monu- 
ment, and  wrote  his  epitaph,  in  the  multitude  of  his  works.  In  what  has  been  said 
already,  little  has  been  done  beyond  offering  a  mere  sketch  of  his  Art-life.  In  repeated 
commissions  given  by  Pope  Pius,  Overbeck  received  from  the  head  of  his  Church  that 
approval  which,  to  a  mind  subject  to  authority,  is  peculiarly  grateful.  Among  his 
paintings  in  fresco  specially  worthy  of  note  is  the  masterpiece  in  the  church  of  Santa 
Maria  degli  Angeli,  built  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  crowned  by  the  town  of  Assisi.  This 
work,  "The  Vision  of  St.  Francis,"  when  last  we  saw  it,  sixteen  years  ago,  suffered  not 
by  immediate  comparison  with  the  sacred  pictures  of  the  devout  Umbrian  school,  in  the 
midst  of  which  it  shone  as  a  witness  to  the  worth  of  German  Christian  Art.  Among 
the  oil-paintings  of  Overbeck,  "The"  Triumph  of  Religion  in  the  Arts,"  one  of  the 
choicest  treasures  in  the  Stadel  Institute,  Frankfort,  is  certainly  the  most  elaborate  and 
ambitious.     This    grand   composition,  which    may  be    likened    in    its    intent  to   Raphael's 


/       «•    Iht   eri{in.tl. 


hf  B.  Sltmmtl. 


SELLING    THE    BOOTY. 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


121 


"School  of  Athens,"  or  to  "The  Hemicycle,"  by  Delaroche,  has  been  aptly  termed  by 
German  critics  "The  Christian  Parnassus" — the  dawn  of  light  in  Europe.  We  wish  that 
space  were  left  for  detailed  description  of  this  work,  weighty  in  thought,  and  loaded  with 


'    ■  "V'vKv.:-;-  ™..v. 


symbolism — a  work  meant  as  a  declaration  of  faith,  the  programme  of  a  creed,  preaching 
to  the  world  a  homily.  Yet  while  pondering  on  this  picture  well  worthy  of  veneration 
one  could  not  but  regret  once  more  that  Overbeck,  in  maturing  his  pictorial  thoughts, 
had   not  shown   like   diligence   in    the   perfecting   of  the   material    instruments,  through 


123  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


which  alone  ideas  can  be  made  visible.  In  the  remembrance  of  the  heavenly  harmonies 
of  Angelico  and  Perugino  it  is  hard  to  forgive  even  a  spiritual  artist  for  crudeness  of 
tone,  and  for  the  use  of  colors  which  are  of  the  earth  earthy.  In  the  recollection  of 
Italian  pictures,  lovely  in  all  perfections,  it  is  not  easy  to  bestow  unqualified  admiration 
on  figures  which,  whatever  be  their  Christian  graces,  are  severe  in  outline,  ungainly  in 
form,  and  feeble  in  bodily  frame.  Such  defects,  however,  may  be  perchance  but  motes 
that  darken  the  sunbeam:  they  are,  perhaps,  but  the  vapors  of  earth  which  the  light 
of  heaven  has  struggled  in  vain  to  dispel. 

Peter  von  Cornelius  was  born  in  Diisseldorf,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1787.  His 
father  was  keeper  of  the  gallery  in  that  town,  then  rich  in  the  pictures  which  are  now 
the  pride  of  the  Munich  Pinakothek.  The  future  painter  seems  to  have  been  no  excep- 
tion to  the  proverbial  precocity  of  genius :  betimes  did  he  show,  while  yet  a  youth,  an 
unusual  predilection  towards  art,  and  gave  promise  of  the  powers  which  ere  long  were 
to  win  him  renown.  It  is  interesting  also  to  observe  how  the  young  artist's  ardent 
mind  at  once  kindled  at  the  approach  of  those  high  thoughts  which  have  since  proved 
the  guide  and  the  inspiration  of  a  life  now  reaching  far  beyond  threescore  years  and 
ten.  It  appears  that  Cornelius  was  not  sixteen  when  he  fell  within  the  sphere  and 
became  captive  to  the  spell  of  the  poet  Goethe.  Thus  was  he  early  enamored  with  the 
ideal  beauty  of  classic  art.  But  the  course  of  an  artist's  true  love  for  art  seldom  runs 
smooth,  especially  in  its  opening  passages.  Accordingly  we  need  not  be  surprised  to 
find  that  the  road  to  fame  was  for  Cornelius  obstructed  at  the  outset  by  obstacles.  His 
father  dies,  and  it  becomes  a  question  whether  the  son  may  not  be  forced  by  the  needs 
of  the  family  into  the  drudgery  of  a  mere  handicraft  trade.  From  this  calamity,  how- 
ever,  he  is  delivered  chiefly  by  indomitable  courage  and  perseverance,  upborne  happily 
by  the  never-to-be-forgotten  injunction  of  his  father,  that  he  should  always  strive  after 
the  things  which  are  most  excellent. 

The  works  which  gave  first  proof  of  the  creative  power  of  Cornelius,  were  a 
painting  in  the  old  church  of  Neuss,  near  Diisseldorf,  executed  when  the  artist  was  of 
the  age  of  nineteen,  a  series  of  designs  illustrative  of  Goethe's  "Faust,"  and  another 
series  of  works  taken  from  the  "Niebelungen  Lied."  These  two  last  compositions, 
echoing  a  popular  German  drama  and  a  national  German  ballad,  show  the  direction  at 
this  time  given  to  the  painter's  tumultuous  imagination.  His  heart  evidently  was  kindled 
with  the  new  love  to  which  the  Fatherland  had  fallen  a  willing  captive.  The  "Niebe- 
lungen Lied" — a  national  song  chaunted  in  olden  time  by  the  people — became  a  theme 
for  the  exercise  of  the  critic's  ingenuity,  or  for  the  display  of  the  artist's  creative  power, 
and  many  were  the  remnants  of  legendary  romance  thus  disinterred  from  the  ruins  of 
the  dark  ages  and  placed  once  more  in  the  light  of  day.      A  national  revival  in  litera- 


GERMAN   SCHOOL.  123 


ture  set  in,  and  the  movement  growing  general,  and  even  intense,  found  of  course  in 
the  end  diverse  and  divergent  manifestations.  Klopstock,  Wieland,  Lessing,  Herder, 
Goethe,  and  Schiller — in  literature  the  predecessors,  or  the  contemporaries,  of  the  school 
of  painters  among  whom  Cornelius  was  the  prince — each  gave  to  the  spirit  of  the  age 
his  own  varying  bias. 

Cornelius,  having  reached  the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  made  the  much-longed-for 
pilgrimage  to  Rome — poor,  we  are  told,  in  pocket,  but  richly  stored  in  projects.'  Italy 
was  for  him,  as  for  others,  the  promised  land,  and  not  to  have  reached  this  country,  so 
fertile  in  art,  would  have  been  to  perish  in  the  desert  where  gushed  no  wells  of  water 
for  the  thirsting  soul.  In  spirit,  at  least,  Cornelius  did  not  come  as  a  foreigner  to  this 
land  of  classic  and  mediaeval  art;  he  had  long  in  imagination  dwelt  among  the  ruins 
of  the  seven  hills ;  he  had  in  fancy  wandered  through  the  halls  of  the  Vatican  crowded 
with  statues  of  the  gods,  and  visited  the  churches  adorned  with  paintings  of  Christian 
saints.  Reaching,  as  the  realization  of  long- cherished  hopes,  the  Eternal  City,  he  beheld 
the  cupola  of  St.  Peter's  from  afar,  and  loosing  himself  from  the  fetters  with  which  he 
might  yet  be  bound,  casting  aside  the  incumbrance  of  old  prejudices  laid  upon  him  by 
obsolete  academic  teaching,  he  felt  himself  free  for  the  coming  future ;  and  as  he  gazed 
on  that  exultant  dome  which  seemed  to  proclaim  faith  triumphant,  the  thought  rose  in 
his  mind  that  upon  this  rock  would  he  build  his  school — that  from  this  city  would  he 
preach  the  doctrines  which  should  bring  to  the  world  of  art  deliverance. 

From  the  northern  Fatherland  there  was  soon  gathered  a  German  brotherhood. 
Overbeck,  Schnorr,  Veit,  and  the  brothers  Schadow  were  of  the  company  of  these 
German  enthusiasts,  who  day  and  night  thought  of  little  else  than  of  the  building  up 
of  this  "new  and  old,"  this  "German  and  Italian  school  of  painting."  Cornelius  among 
these  his  fellows  appears  as  a  giant,  and  stood  as  a  tower  of  strength.  He  seems  to 
have  been  confident  in  the  consciousness  of  power,  and  he  evidently  had  the  faculty  of 
inspiring  other  minds  with  the  faith  which  so  strongly  held  possession  of  his  own.  The 
small  company  of  painters  among  whom  he  was  a  presiding  spirit  were  in  Rome  poor 
and  unknown,  but  ere  long  they  gathered  within  their  sphere  kindred  and  sympathetic 
intellects.  Learned  professors,  who  could  give  to  comparatively  inexperienced  students 
guidance,  patrons  who  were  able  to  afford  these  unproved  painters  a  trial,  and  men  of 
state,  whose  privilege  it  is  to  bestow  prestige  and  sanction,  were  all  in  the  end  ready 
to  extend  to  the  young  adventurers  a  helping  hand.  The  palace  of  Niebuhr,  the  histo- 
rian, then  ambassador  from  the  court  of  Berlin,  was  open  to  his  countrymen  of  the  new 
school ;  the  Prussian  consul-general,  Bartholdy,  had  a  house  on  the  Pincian,  which  he 
inclined  to  decorate  after  the  fresco  manner  his  young  friends  sought  to  revive ;  there 
was  the  villa,  too,  of  the  Marchese  Massimi,  standing   in  a  garden    near  the  church  of 


124 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


the  Lateran,  which  was  ready  to  submit  its  walls  as  a  field  whereon  the  poetic  fancy  of 
these  sciolists  might  loose  the  rein  to  the  utmost  of  its  bent ;  and  lastly,  and  not  least, 
the  Crown  Prince  of  Bavaria,  the  ex-king  Ludwig,  ever  glad  to  coquette  with  a  new 
idea,  made  overtures  to  the  novices,  now  matured  into  adepts,  and  nothing  would  do 
but  that  Cornelius  should  consent  to  be  carried  away  captive  to  Munich  in  order  that  he 


the  ongtmat. 


THE    LAST    SUPPER 


ty  Carl  Mulltr 


might  aid  in  painting  the  new  toy,  the  prince's  pet  capital.  In  biographies  such  as  that 
of  Niebuhr,  we  find  scattered,  interesting  details  oT  the  mode  of  life  to  which  the  dis- 
ciples of  high  art  were  at  this  time  addicted.  These  painters,  especially  cloister-loving 
Overbeck,  desiring  to  live  in  the  simple  spirit  of  olden  times,  adopted  a  stern,  almost 
a  monastic  way  of  life.  Wishing  to  raise  themselves  to  the  height  of  a  great  argument, 
they  ever  loved  to  talk  of  the  pictures  which  embodied  noblest  thoughts;  at  the  house 
of  their  kind  friend  Niebuhr,  would  they  night  after  night  discuss  the  principles  in  which 


' 


".' 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


125 


From  ike  original. 


iy  Joseph  Settegast. 


THE    ASCENSION    OF    CHRIST. 


they  put  their  trust,  and  there  did    they  lay  out  in  the  mind's  eye  the  leading  ideas  of 
those  great  compositions  which  have  since  extended  throughout  Europe  their  renown. 
Among    the   works   by  which    Cornelius  will    be    best    remembered    are    two   grand 


126  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


compositions,  "God  the  Creator"  and  "Christ  the  Judge."  Cornelius,  in  the  ceiling  of 
the  Glyptothek,  threw  his  imagination  into  the  midst  of  classic  myths;  again,  in  the 
Loggie  of  the  Pinakothek,  he  unfolded  the  annals  of  art. 

Following  in  the  steps  of  the  great  Christian  artists,  Cornelius  had  even  from  his 
youth  cherished  the  ambition  to  give  proof  of  his  power  by  a  painting  of  "The  Last 
Judgment,"  the  most  arduous  in  the  whole  cycle  of  biblical  subjects.  Giotto,  Orcagna, 
Fra  Angelico,  Signorelli,  and  Michael  Angelo  had  put  forth  their  utmost  strength  in 
surmounting  the  difficulties  of  this  tremendous  theme.  The  treatment  adopted  by  these 
successive  artists  shows  progressive  development,  and  Cornelius,  coming  last  of  all,  has 
at  least  the  merit  of  producing  the  most  elaborate  composition.  This,  his  culminating 
work,  occupies  the  east  wall  of  the  church  of  St.  Ludwig.  If  estimated  by  its  mere 
size,  or  by  the  time  occupied  in  its  design,  it  is  almost  without  rival  in  the  history  of 
art.  On  the  cartoon  the  artist  spent  ten  years ;  in  other  words,  upon  die  composition 
and  the  drawing,  as  evident  from  an  examination  of  the  work,  he  devoted,  after  the 
manner  of  his  school,  severest  study.  The  fresco  itself  is  sixty-two  feet  high,  and  die 
seated  figure  of  Christ  occupies  no  less  than  twelve  feet.  Such  are  the  giant  propor- 
tions of  the  composition,  and  such  the  commensurate  toil  involved  in  its  manipulation. 
The  execution  of  less  important  pictures  had  been  delegated  to  scholars.  Cornelius 
with  his  own  hand  painted  this  his  master  work. 

At  the  end  of  some  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  taken  from  the  very  prime  of  his  life, 
Cornelius  finds  his  mission  at  Munich  accomplished.  In  an  interval  of  comparative 
leisure  he  made  a  journey  to  Paris,  and  a  year  afterwards  he  visited  London.  Soon, 
however,  he  is  again  in  harness,  for  yet  another  labor  of  Hercules  there  may  be  time 
to  finish  before  the  hour  cometh  when  no  man  can  work.  Four  capitals  of  Europe,  we 
have  said,  acknowledge  the  painter's  dominion,  and  Cornelius  now  enters  Berlin  to  win 
his  final  triumph.  Here,  under  commission  from  the  king,  he  was  to  compose  what  the 
Germans  call  a  "Christian  picture  cycle,"  for  the  decoration  of  the  Campo  Santo.  Of 
the  designs  executed  for  this  place  of  burial,  one  of  the  painter's  boldest  and  most 
original  compositions,  "The  Four  Riders  of  the  Apocalypse,"  is  taken  from  the  sixth 
chapter  of  the  Revelation  of  St.  John.  In  the  terror-striking  vision,  the  demons  of  Pesti- 
lence, Famine.  War,  and  Death,  let  loose  at  the  opening  of  the  seals,  with  the  voice  of 
thunder  hurl  their  curses  on  the  earth.  This  astounding  composition  suggests  one  or 
two  critical  remarks.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  matter  for  commendation  that  the  mystery 
and  the  mysticism  which  the  inspired  writer  maintains,  Cornelius  has  not  dispelled. 
Furthermore,  the  feeling  of  undefined  horror  which  fills  the  mind  on  the  reading  of  the 
text  finds  response  on  turning  to  its  illustration.  Lastly,  in  the  spirit  of  this  work  we 
recognize  the  weird  genius  of  northern   art  dominant  over  that  plagiarism  from  Italian 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


127 


masters  which  has  too  often  plunged  the  modern  German  school  into  servility.  In  short, 
in  this  mature  composition  it  is  interesting  to  find  Cornelius  reverting  to  that  German 
form  of  thought,  that  national  mode  of  treatment  to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  gave 
himself  while  yet  a  youth,  but  which  doubtless  was  put  in  jeopardy  by  his  sojourn 
in  Rome. 

Cornelius  died  in  1867,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three,  crowned  in  the  honors 
which  great  achievements  gain.  In  the  retrospect  of  a  long  life  he  had  the  satisfaction 
to  know  that  the  world  at  length  acknowledged  his  deserts.  The  revival  of  which  he 
was  the  pioneer  at  first  encountered  violent  opposition  and  provoked  the  keenest  ridicule. 
He  lived  to  see  the  day  when  every  German  pronounced  the  name  of  Cornelius  with 
pride. 

Friedrich  Wilhelm  Schadow  was  born  in  Berlin  in  the  year  1789.  The  stars 
seem  about  this  time  to  have  shed  over  northern  latitudes  a  light  favorable  to  sacred 
art,  and  the  planets  it  would  appear  ruled  a  common  destiny  for  several  painters  who 
were  in  coming  seasons  to  shine  in  the  heavens  as  one  constellation.  This  concentra- 
tion of  concurrent  intellect  on  a  given  spot  at  one  time  comes  in  confirmation  of  a 
doctrine  promulgated  by  Ullmann,  the  law  under  which  men  of  genius  make  in  the 
world  a  periodical  appearance,  and  seems  to  suggest  in  the  economy  of  Divine  provi- 
dence "the  idea  of  a  great  spiritual  choir,  extending,  in  harmonious  succession,  through 
the  whole  history  of  human  progress."  Such  a  line  of  thought  will  prepare  the  reader 
to  find  an  ever-recurring  correspondence  running  through  the  lives  and  the  works  of  the 
chief  leaders  in  the  new  school.  We  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  in  the  year  18 10 
Friedrich  Wilhelm  Schadow  went,  in  company  with  his  brother,  Rudolph,  to  Rome,  that 
he  there  joined  fellowship  with  Cornelius  and  Overbeck,  became  identified  with  the 
so-called  sect  of  "Nazarites,"  and  entered  two  years  later,  in  company  with  his  brethren, 
the  Holy  Catholic  Church.  Like  other  members  of  his  school,  Schadow  tried  a  prentice 
hand  in  the  decoration  of  the  Casa  Bartholdi.  A  more  mature  work  is  the  large  picture, 
"The  Wise  and  Foolish  Virgins,"  in  the  Stadel  Instituts,  Frankfort,  which  may  be  accepted 
as  a  fair  manifesto  of  the  artist's  powers. 

Schadow  is  known  by  numerous  productions,  including  portraits ;  but  his  position  in 
Germany  was  less  due  to  his  works  as  a  painter  than  to  his  skill  as  a  professor.  As 
a  teacher  in  the  Academy  of  Berlin,  scholars  crowded  round  him ;  when  Director  of 
the  Dusseldorf  Academy,  which  he  re-organized,  among  his  pupils  were  numbered  Hilde- 
brandt,  Sohn  and  Lessing ;  but  he  had  not  strength  to  hold  the  seat  into  which  he  had 
mounted.  A  reaction  set  in  against  the  party  he  espoused,  and  he  had  to  endure  from 
rivals  cruel  attacks.  He  was  accused  of  being  a  narrow  partisan  of  sacred,  or  rather 
sacerdotal,    art,    and    his    style    was    stigmatized   as    soft   and    sugared   superficiality.     A 


138 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


younger  generation  of  men  hail  arisen,  who,  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  demanded 
vigorous  naturalism,  vivid  color  and  bold  execution.  Schadow,  after  a  severe  struggle, 
laid  down  his  authority.  H<-  died  in  1862,  not  without  honor.  He  was  doctor  in  the 
University  of  Bonn.  Knight  of  the  Red  Eagle  and  other  orders,  and  member  of  the 
idemy  of   Berlin  and  of  the  Institute  of  France. 


Fram  Ht  artgimal. 


THE    RAISING    OF    JARIUSS    DAUGHTER. 


I'mupp  Veit  was  made  of  stouter  stuff.  His  ancestors,  it  appears,  were  Jews,  and 
Frederich  von  Schlegel,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of  Moses  Mendelssohn,  was  his 
stcpfatlu-r.  To  recount  his  history  is  but  to  repeat  the  incidents  already  recorded  in 
the  lives  of  the  other  disciples  of  the  school.  Veit  went  to  Rome,  joined  the  brother- 
hood, and  painted  frescoes  in  the  Casa  Bartholdi  and  the  Villa  Massimi.  In  1830  he 
was  made  Director  of  the  Stadel  Instituts,  Frankfort,  and  he  numbered  Settegast  and 
the  lamented  Alfred  Rethel  among  his  scholars  and  assistants.  His  works  are  few. 
Among  his   designs   it   may  be  worth  while   to   mention  "The  Heavenly  Stranger,"  the 


F.  roLTZ  ,    PINXT 


C.H.JEENS.  SCULPT 


THE      JA<SEE  §     WIFE, 


SCENE  IN   THE  ALPS. 


FROM   THE    PICTURE    IN   THE    ROYAL    COLLECTION. 


Pi 


o£ 


i3o  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


supposed  origin  of  Mr.  Holman's  Hunt's  "Light  of  the  World."  Veit,  in  taking  for  his 
text,  -Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock,"  adopts  a  literal  reading,  and  gives  the 
simple  germ  of  that  idea  which  the  English  painter  subsequendy  wrought  out  in  elabo- 
rate detail,  and  loaded  with  symbolic  meaning. 

Juuus  Schnokr  von  Karolsfeld  is  of  a  family  well  known  in  the  annals  of  German 
painting.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  went  to  Vienna  to  work  in  the  Academy,  and 
falling  under  the  influence  of  Joseph  Koch  and  Ferdinand  Olivier,  he  became  smitten 
with  the  newly- discovered  truth  and  goodness  of  the  old  German  and  the  early  Italian 
masters.  A  few  years  later  he  joined  in  the  common  migration  to  Rome,  and  received, 
in  company  with  his  young  friends,  a  commission  to  decorate  in  fresco  the  villa  of  the 
Marchese  Massimi.  In  1827  he  was  appointed  Professor  in  the  Academy  of  Munich, 
and  in  that  city,  sharing  the  royal  patronage,  his  exuberant  imagination  gained  adequate 
sphere  for  expansion  and  display.  His  genius,  inclining  little  towards  the  severity  of 
classic,  or  the  austerity  of  mediaeval  forms,  leaned  rather  to  those  romantic  schools 
which  give  wing  to  fancy.  In  the  Villa  Massimi  his  poetic  invention  had  expatiated  in 
illustration  of  Tasso's  "Jerusalem  Delivered ;"  and  now  in  Munich,  charged  with  the 
decoration  of  King  Ludwig's  new  "residenz"  he  found  like  congenial  theme  in  the  legend 
of  the  Niebelungenlied,  from  which  we  engrave  "The  Death  of  Siegfried,"  on  page  108. 

Schnorr  is  best  known  by  his  "Bible  pictures."  The  Bible  of  Schnorr  may  be 
weighed  in  comparison  with  analogous  works.  The  Bible  of  Raphael  charms  by  its 
symmetry  and  beauty;  it  is  a  product  of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  The  Passion  of  our 
Lord,  as  depicted  by  Albert  Diirer,  arrests  attention  by  eccentric  character,  pushed  some- 
times to  the  point  of  caricature:  it  is  the  offspring  of  the  old  German  school.  The  Life 
of  Christ,  as  portrayed  by  Overbeck,  wins  by  gentleness  and  purity  of  spirit:  it  is  the 
outcome  of  the  modern  German  school.  How  far  the  style  of  Schnorr  differs  from 
the  treatment  of  his  competitors  may  be  seen  by  an  appeal  to  the  engraving  which  we 
publish  on  page  1 21.  The  dramatic  and  sometimes  declamatory  manner  of  the  artist  is 
detected  in  the  bold  action  of  Joseph  pointing  to  the  years  of  famine  and  of  plenty,  and 
in  the  melodramatic  attitude  of  Pharaoh  cowering  before  the  interpretation  of  his  dream. 
In  the  bystanding  figures  is  a  touch  of  common  nature,  to  which  the  great  masters 
would  not  have  condescended. 

There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  an  unusually  prolific  creative  power  has  tempted 
Schnorr  to  undertake  too  much.  Like  to  his  fellow-laborer  in  Munich,  the  sculptor 
Schwanthaler,  multitudinous  thoughts  came  crowding  on  the  artist's  brain  which  time  and 
study  failed  him  to  mature.  Thus  often  is  it  to  be  regretted  that  Schnorr  put  upon 
paper  chaotic  ideas,  and  took  no  trouble  to  carry  out  with  accuracy  of  detail  his  rapid 
and  crude  conceptions.     Yet  in  this  off-hand  mode  some  happy  hits  are  made.     A  bril- 


> 
o 

- 

o 

! — I 
1-1 


c 


vv 


r 


GERMAN   SCHOOL.  131 


liancy  in  the  flash  of  the  impassioned  eye,  a  boldness  in  the  stroke  of  the  adventurous 
arm,  an  originality  in  the  discursive  thought  of  a  mind  let  loose  without  restraining 
curb, — such  were  the  power  and  the  franchise  which  made  the  painter  free,  and  gave 
to  his  works  endless  fertility  and  resource.  The  completion  of  Schnorr's  Bible,  involving 
in  its  one  hundred  and  eighty  compositions  no  slight  labor,  seems  to  have  been  the 
occasion  of  jubilee.  The  artists  of  Saxony  made  a  feast,  the  painters  of  Dresden  gave 
a  drinking-cup,  those  of  Leipzig  a  writing-desk,  together  with  a  gorgeous  copy  of  the 
Bible  itself;  the  municipality  of  Leipzig  honored  Schnorr  with  the  freedom  of  their 
town ;  the  University  conferred  on  him  the  diploma  of  Doctor.  Thus  rewarded,  bearing, 
moreover,  the  decoration  of  many  orders,  and  being  member  of  divers  academies,  Schnorr 
reaped  the  harvest  of  a  life  laden  in  years  and  rich  in  abundant  fruits. 

Peter  von  Hess,  the  "Horace  Vernet  of  Central  Germany,"  was  born  at  Diisseldorf 
in  1 792-3.  He  was  the  son  of  Karl  von  Hess,  the  professor  of  engraving  in  the  Diis- 
seldorf Academy,  and  the  brother  of  two  other  artists — Heinrich  von  Hess,  an  historical 
painter,  and  Karl  von  Hess,  a  painter  of  battle-pieces,  of  less  note.  Peter  von  Hess 
was,  at  various  times,  much  patronized  by  the  Bavarian  Government.  He  died  at  Munich 
on  the  4th  of  April,  1871.  Of  his  pictures  we  may  mention  "The  Entrance  of  King 
Otho  into  Nauplin,"  "The  Battle  of  Arcis-sur-Aube,"  and  "The  Crossing  of  the  Bere- 
sina" — painted  for  the  late  Emperor  of  Russia.  Hess  executed  genre  subjects  with 
almost  as  much  success  as  he  did  battle-pieces,  but  not  to  nearly  the  same  extent. 
About  the  year  1850  he  published  "An  Album  of  Greek  Heroism,  or  the  Deliverance 
of  Greece,"  which  contains  forty  illustrations,  executed  in  chromo-lithography. 

Heinrich  von  Hess  was  born  at  Diisseldorf,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1798.  He  first 
studied  under  his  father,  Karl  von  Hess,  who  was  professor  of  engraving  in  the  Diis- 
seldorf Academy.  In  1806  young  Hess  went  to  Munich,  and  entered  as  a  student  in 
the  academy  of  that  city.  Seven  years  later  appeared  his  first  great  works,  "The 
Sepulchre  of  Christ"  and  a  "Holy  Family,"  which  attracted  the  notice  of  Queen  Caro- 
line, who  henceforth  became  his  liberal  patroness.  In  1821  he  received  a  royal  travelling- 
grant.  He  went  to  Italy,  where  he  stayed  until  1826,  in  which  year  he  returned  to 
Munich,  and  was  soon  afterwards  made  Professor  of  the  Academy.  In  the  following 
year  he  commenced  a  series  of  cartoons  for  the  Allerheiligenkirche,  which  he  completed 
in  1837.  In  1849  Hess  was  made  director  of  the  Royal  Collection,  which  post  he  held 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  29th  of  March,  1863.  Among  the  best  known 
of  his  works  we  may  mention  a  "Christmas,"  painted  for  Queen  Caroline;  and  "Faith, 
Hope  and  Charity,"  painted  for  the  Leuchtenberg  Gallery,  at  St.  Petersburg. 

The  Academy  of  Diisseldorf  occupies  a  leading  position  in  the  history  of  European 
painting.     Within  the  last  thirty  or   forty  years,  it  has  gone  through  varying  phases  of 


.'    — >  Hr  ttjgtml. 


fr  Hrir     I    I. 


EVERY    MAN    TO    HIS    TRADE. 


THE        FILATRICE 


PROM  THE  STATUE  BY  SCHADOW. 


R  it  HARRIS 


"^}  A  A  R  y 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


135 


nection  with  Dusseldorf  does  not  appear  to  be  intimate.  The  position  to  which  this 
painter  is  entitled  will  be  seen  from  the  picture  we  engrave,  "The  Ascension  of  Our 
Lord,"  certainly  one  of  the  most  impressive  among  the  very  many  renderings  of  the 
glorious  theme,  which  is  the  seal  and  the  triumph  of  the  Christian's  faith.  This  subject 
is  sometimes  included  in  the  Life  of  the  Madonna,  as  the  seventh  and  last  of  her 
sorrows.  More  expressly,  however,  it  comes  as  the  final  scene  in  the  Passion  and  Death 
of  the  Redeemer.  The  event  has  been  overlaid  and  encumbered  by  Perugino  and  others 
with  a  multitude  of  accessories.  The  composition  of  Settegast  is  to  be  applauded  for 
its  simplicity.  The  secret  upon  which  this  picture  is  put  together  is  seen  at  a  glance. 
The  Apostles  and  the  Holy  Women  are  grouped  in  a  circle ;  space  and  isolation  are 
thus  obtained  for  the  principal  figure  in  ascension.  The  calmness  and  the  benignity  of 
Christ  as  he  is  received  into  heaven,  lifted  up  by  power  divine  into  the  radiant  sky, 
are  traits  nobly  conceived.  This  central  figure  gently  floating  upwards  finds  effective 
contrast  in  the  eagle  swoop  of  the  two  angels  downwards.  The  lines  of  composition 
are  ingeniously  thrown  together. 

Johann  Eduard  Steinle  was  born  in  Vienna  in  the  year  18 10.  He  studied  art  in 
that  city  until  1828,  when  he  went  to  Rome,  and  joined  company  with  Overbeck  and 
Veit.  In  common  with  the  chiefs  of  his  party,  Steinle  has  designed  numerous  cartoons, 
and  has  practised  with  success  the  revived  art  of  fresco-painting.  He  has  also  been 
engaged  in  the  restoration  of  the  tempera  pictures  of  the  cathedral  at  Cologne.  In  the 
year  1850  he  went  to  Frankfort  as  professor  of  historical  painting  in  the  Stadel  Institut. 
The  pencil  of  Steinle  is  a  magic  wand  which  evokes  out  of  the  vast  abyss,  ideas,  mystic 
and  ominous.  In  a  simple  strain  is  conceived  that  sweetly  sympathetic  composition,  "The 
Raising  of  Jairus's  Daughter,"  which  we  have  selected  for  engraving  on  page  1 28.  There 
is  pathetic  loveliness  in  this  child  of  twelve  years,  frail  and  beautiful  as  a  flower  that 
has  faded  out  of  life.  The  girl  awakes  as  from  a  gentle  sleep ;  the  eyes  are  still  drooping, 
as  when  the  cold  wind  and  the  dew  of  night  have  closed  the  petals  of  a  tender  plant. 
The  painter  has  evidently  caught  the  idea  "the  damsel  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth."  Decay's 
effacing  fingers  have  not  yet  swept  away  the  lines  where  beauty  lingers  in  the  languor 
of  the  placid  cheek.  The  ecstatic  rapture  of  surprise  in  the  father  and  the  mother 
contrasts  finely,  both  with  the  gentle  movement  of  their  child  upward  rising,  and  with 
the  calm  dignity  that  presides  over  the  figure  of  Christ. 

Karl  Piloty  was  born  in  the  year  1826.  On  the  death  of  his  brother-in-law  Schorn, 
the  painter  of  the  huge  picture  of  "The  Deluge,"  now  in  the  new  Pinakothek,  Munich, 
he  was  appointed  professor  in  the  academy  of  that  city.  Piloty  has  since  acquired 
European  fame  by  two  great  works  which,  of  their  kind,  are  almost  without  rivals — the 
one,  "The  Death  of  Wallenstein,"  which  for  some  years  has  attracted  the  eye  of  every 


t.  WINTERHALTER,  PINXT 


T.VERNON,  SCULPT 


THE      LADY    COKTSTAFCE, 


FROM    THE    PICTURE   IN  THE     ROYAL    COLLECTION. 


GERMAN   SCHOOL. 


m 


visitor  to  the  new  Pinakothek ;  the  other,  "Nero  Walking  among  the  Ruins  of  Rome," 
which,  in  the  International  Exhibition  of  1862,  astounded  all  comers  by  its  intense 
realism. 

The  dramatic  action  which   Piloty  and   his   fellow-workers  delight  in,  is  an  element 


A.  Feuerbach,  Pinx. 


IPHIGENIA  AT  AULIS. 


that  has  been  of  comparatively  late  development  in  the  history  of  art.  Repose  was  the 
supreme  sentiment  of  Greek  sculpture.  Eternal  rest  seems  the  heritage  of  the  figures 
which  Byzantine  artists  wrought  in  mosaic  on  the  apses  of  churches,  and  a  like  unruffled 
serenity  dwells  in  the  faces  of  saints  depicted  by  the  early  Italian  painters.  Action  appears 
first  to  have  crept  into  Christian  art  by  the  smallest  of  incidents,  as  when  Raphael,  in  a 


i38  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


well-known  picture,  makes  pretty  play  for  the  infant  Jesus  and  John  by  the  introduction 
of  a  goldfinch.  And  descending  to  modern  works,  tragedy  thickens  apace,  as  seen, 
for  example,  in  "The  Death  of  Queen  Elizabeth,"  "The  Execution  of  Lady  Jane  Gray," 
"The  Children  in  the  Tower,"  'The  Trial  of  King  Charles,"  by  Delaroche,  "The  Execu- 
tion of  Counts  Egmont  and  Horn,"  by  Gallait,  "The  Children  in  the  Tower,"  by  Hilde- 
brandt,  ami  ■  I  hiss  on  the  Funeral  Pyre,"  by  Lessing.  These  works  all  partake  of  that 
realistic  and  dramatic  treatment  of  history  whereof  ''The  Death  of  Wallenstein,"  by 
Piloty,  is  a  late  and  illustrious  example. 

In  art.  as  in  philosophy,  the  opposing  schools  of  idealists  and  realists  have  existed 
from  all  time,  and  will  continue  to  endure  while  the  world  lasts.  That  the  two  systems 
will  ever  be  entirely  reconciled,  or  completely  merged  the  one  in  the  other,  is  scarcely 
probable,  or,  indeed,  taken  for  all  in  all,  desirable.  Once  or  twice  perhaps  in  the  history 
of  art  this  fusion  has  been  on  the  point  of  accomplishment.  The  statues  of  Phidias  and 
the  pictures  of  Raphael  are  both  real  and  ideal.  To  the  works  of  other  men — to  the 
pictures  of  Piloty  for  example — this  universality  has  been  denied.  Genius,  however,  which 
is  less  discursive,  often  in  compensation  gains  proportionately  greater  concentration  within 
its  narrower  sphere.     In  the  realism  of  history,  at  all  events,  Piloty  has  not  been  surpassed. 

Edward  Bendemann  was  born  in  Berlin,  in  the  year  1811.  The  first  instruction  he 
received  came  from  the  academy  of  his  native  country.  In  the  year  1828  he  went  to 
Diisseldorf,  where  he  fell  under  the  tuition  of  Schadow,  with  whom,  two  years  later,  he 
traveled  in  Italy.  His  talents  expanded  so  early  that  he  acquired  with  his  first  picture 
a  reputation.  While  in  Diisseldorf,  he  seems  to  have  taken  the  life  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  in  joy  and  sorrow,  for  illustration — a  theme  around  which  have  been  gathered 
many  of  the  artist's  most  renowned  works,  such,  for  example,  as  the  well-known  picture, 
"The  Captive  Israelites  mourning  by  the  waters  of  Babylon." 

Bendemann  is  one  of  the  many  German  artists  who  have  used  the  medium  of  fresco 
for  the  expression  of  noble  thoughts.  By  him,  in  common  with  his  brethren  tutored  in 
Rome,  holding  communion  with  the  great  works  of  Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael  in  the 
Sistinc  and  the  Vatican,  fresco  painting  was  deemed  pre-eminently  a  monumental  art. 
This  art  of  fresco  painting,  like  the  architecture  that  is  its  framework,  requires  to  be 
simple  in  treatment,  symmetric  in  proportion,  and  broad  in  the  distribution  of  its  distinctive 
members  and  masses.  The  themes  it  chooses,  too,  should  be  endowed  with  the  elements 
of  greatness;  the  truths  it  embodies  should  be  enduring  as  the  tenements  they  adorn. 

Bendemann  may  be  surpassed  by  some  of  his  contemporaries  for  play  of  fancy  and 
fertility  of  imagination,  by  others  for  classic  subtlety  or  beauty  in  form,  by  many  again 
for  Christian  graces  and  direct  spiritual  utterance;  but  to  him  pertain  supremely  patri- 
archal power  and  presence. 


GERMAN    SCHOOL.  i39 


With  Wilhelm  von  Kaulbach,  whom  we  have  referred  to  on  page  in,  we  close 
our  review  of  the  German  School  immediately  preceding  the  contemporary.  Kaulbach 
comes  as  a  crowning  climax  to  the  long  and  illustrious  series  of  German  painters  of  the 
modern  school.  He  is  the  consummation  of  the  great  revival.  If  born  in  ancient  Greece, 
he  had  been  a  Phidias;  if  in  middle-age  Italy,  a  Raphael;  if  in  modern  France,  a  Dela- 
roche;  but  a  native  of  Waldeck,  in  west  Germany,  his  genius  has  taken  on  the  guise 
which  is  better  in  keeping  with  his  time  and  country.  His  father,  a  goldsmith  by  trade, 
proposing  to  make  of  Wilhelm  an  artist,  took  the  youth,  when  seventeen  years  old,  to 
Diisseldorf,  and  placed  him  as  a  student  in  the  academy,  then  under  the  direction  of 
Cornelius.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  Kaulbach  followed  his  master  to  Munich,  and 
commenced  the  works  which  first  brought  him  into  notice.  Among  his  earliest  produc- 
tions were  six  allegorical   frescoes,  executed   in  the  arcade  of  the  Hofgarten. 

His  subjects,  his  styles,  and  his  materials,  which  are  many,  are  alike  worthy  of  note. 
His  themes  are  wide  in  range  and  lofty  in  aspiration.  History  in  epochs  which  are 
landmarks  in  the  world's  civilization;  philosophy  that  teaches  through  example;  poetry 
as  manifested  in  the  creations  of  Shakespeare  and  Goethe;  life  in  its  light  and  shade, 
in  the  climax  of  its  joy  and  the  depth  of  its  sorrow — such  are  the  subjects  which  in 
their  diversity  and  import  measure  the  genius  and  circumscribe  the  labors  of  Kaulbach. 
In  style,  too,  as  in  subject,  this  painter  displays  the  same  versatility;  by  turns  he  is 
grave  and  gay.  Like  dramatists  and  actors  of  first  quality,  he  is  great  at  once,  in 
comedy  and  in  tragedy;  his  impersonations,  in  short,  are  close  upon  the  models  of 
Phidias  and  Raphael,  of  Diirer  and  Hogarth.  The  name  of  Kaulbach  will  also  be 
identified  with  the  most  successful  efforts  to  free  Art  from  the  tyranny  of  the  Church. 
Such   are    the    services  which    Kaulbach    has    conferred   upon   his  age  and  country. 

Wagner,  a  pupil  of  Piloty,  is  well  known  to  all  visitors  to  the  Centennial  Exhibition, 
where  his  "Chariot  Race  in  the  Circus  Maximus"  was  exhibited;  as  was  also  an  excellent 
etching  of  the  same  subject.  We  engrave  on  page  132  a  fine  example  of  his  early 
manner,  but  in  recent  years  he  has  displayed  his  powers  as  an  interpreter  of  certain 
phases  of  equine  character  in  which  he  is  successful. 

Other  notable  painters  of  the  contemporary  German  School  are — Gretius,  whose 
"The  State,  it  is  I"  we  engrave  on  page  129;  Professor  Becker  of  Berlin,  whom  we 
represent  by  one  of  his  greatest  and  perhaps  best  known  works,  "  Charles  V  and  Titian," 
on  page  109;  Stevers,  a  fellow  pupil  of  Becker's,  and  now  settled  in  Diisseldorf,  graces 
these  pages  by  his  "Rubens  and  his  Master,"  page  112,  a  subject  somewhat  analagous 
in  sentiment  to  Becker's  great  work.  Stammel  is  well  known  in  America  by  the  speci- 
mens of  his  work  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  good  private  gallery.  He  is  very  happy 
in  depicting   certain    phases  of  human    nature,  and   acute  in   seizing   certain  expressions 


140 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


of  the  countenance,  especially  the  humorous.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Greutzner,  with 
this  difference,  that  Stammel  selects  his  subjects  principally  from  soldier  life  in  the 
middle  ages,  whilst  Greutzner  deals  with  civilian  life  of  the  present  time.  The  reader 
will  observe  the  affiliation  of  these  artists'  minds  by  looking  at  Stammel's  "Selling  the 
Booty,"  on  page  120,  and  the  steel  engraving  of  Greutzner's,  "Hard  Luck." 

Munich  taught  Hans  Makart  and  A.  Feuerbach,  and  both  now  are  professors  at  the 
Royal  Academy  in  Vienna.  Makart  in  many  of  his  paintings  selects  subjects  somewhat 
similar  to  Feuerbach's  creations,  or  Feuerbach  is  similar  to  Makart.  We  engrave  on 
page  137  "Iphigenia  at  Aulis,"  by  Feuerbach,  which  exhibits  capital  drawing,  and  the 
painting  is  subdued  in  tone;  those  who  saw  Makart's  "Venice  paying  Homage  to 
Catharine  of  Cornaro,"  at  the  Philadelphia  Exhibition,  will  believe  that  the  "Faust  and 
Marguerite,"  which  we  engrave  on  page  135,  is  from  a  canvas  of  similar  proportions. 
The  Iphigenia — one  of  the  most  admired  paintings  at  the  Vienna  International  Exhibition — 
represents  her  gazing  at  the  blue  ^Egean,  thinking  probably  of  her  approaching  doom; 
but  "Artemis  snatched  her  from  the  altar,  and  carried  her  to  Heaven,  substituting  a 
hind  in  her  place." 

"  Till  Agamemnon's  daughter's  blood 
Appeased  the  gods  that  them  withstood." 

We  close  this  chapter  with  an  engraving  of  a  water  color,  exhibited  by  E.  Bitterlich, 
at  Vienna,  in   1873 — the  Graces. 


PSYCHE 


FROM.    THE    STATUE    BY  W. VON    HOYER.  IN  THE    ROYAI,    COLLECTION. 


THE   NETHERLANDS. 


141 


THE    NETHERLANDS. 


the  early  Christian  painters  of  the  Netherlands  we  have  but  few 
records.  No  examples,  such  as  those  in  the  Catacombs  at  Rome, 
are  to  be  met  with  in  the  Low  Countries,  yet  indications  are  not 
wanting  that  the  same  classico-Christian  mode  of  representing  sacred 
subjects  was  adopted  by  the  early  artists  of  Flanders  and  Germany, 
as  well   as   of  Rome.      Very  soon,  however,  the   Byzantine   influence 


prevailed,  and 
we  have  star- 
ing, oval-faced 
Madonnas,  and  lean, 
olive-green  Saints, 
displaying  the  well- 
known  Byzantine 
ideal  of  grace  and 
beauty. 

The  eleventh  cen- 
tury was  character- 
ized in  Flanders,  as 
elsewhere,  by  the 
lowest  degradation 
of  Christian  art. 
Blood-streaming 
Crucifixions  and  dis- 
gusting Martyrdoms 
were  the  favorite 
subjects  of  this  age, 
as  well  as  represen- 
tations of  the  Last 


From  the  original. 


by  L.  Van  Leyde. 


THE     DENTIST. 


Judgment,  in  which 
the  torments  of  the 
damned  were  made 
use  of  by  the  Church 
to  awaken  the  terror 
of  the  living. 

But  dating  from 
the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, a  gradual  im- 
provement took 
place  in  the  art  of 
the  Netherlands,  as 
well  as  of  Italy,  and 
even  before  the  time 
of  the  Van  Eycks 
there  were  several 
Flemish  artists 
whose  works  mani- 
fest a  decided  ad- 
vance on  the  old- 
established  modes 
of  representation. 


A  new  impulse  was  given  to  art  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  by  the 
two  Flemish  brothers,  Hubert  and  Jan  Van  Eyck.  The  great  success  of  these  masters, 
it  has  been  asserted,  was  wholly  owing  to  their  invention  of  a  better  medium  for 
painting — to  their  discovery,  as  it  has  been  called,  of  the  secret  of  oil-painting;  but  no 
one  who  has  studied  the  works  of  Jan  Van  Eyck  can  doubt  that  the  real  secret  of  his 


t42  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


admirable  painting  lay,  not  in  the  mechanical  medium  he  used,  but  in  the  genius  of  the 
man  who  used  it.  But  although  undoubtedly  some  process  of  painting  in  oils  was  in 
use  before  the  Van  Eyck  method,  it  is  nevertheless  clear  that  the  process  they  invented 
must  have  supplied  a  want  that  had  been  long  felt  by  painters,  for  it  was  at  once 
enthusiastically  welcomed  and  adopted  by  all  to  whom  it  was  made  known.  The 
greatest  anxiety  was  evinced  by  the  artists  of  Italy  as  well  as  by  those  of  the  Nether- 
lands to  gain  possession  of  the  secret,  and  many  stories  are  told  of  the  furtive  manner 
in  which  this  was  sometimes  accomplished.  The  Flemish  brothers  seem,  in  fact,  to  have 
solved  a  problem  that  had  long  been  vexing  painters'  brains. 

It  seems  tolerably  certain  that  Hubert  was  born  at  Maaseyck,  in  the  Duchy  of 
Limburg,  in  the  year  1366.  He  entered  the  guild  of  painters  at  Ghent,  in  141 2,  and 
appears  to  have  resided  chiefly  at  Bruges  and  Ghent.  He  died  in  the  latter  city,  Sep- 
tember 18,  1426,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Bavon  in  the  vault  of  his  patron,  Jocidus  Vydt, 
who  had  commissioned  him  to  paint  the  great  altar-piece  that  he  left  unfinished.  Except 
his  epitaph,  which  gives  us  a  curious  insight  into  the  character  of  the  man  and  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived,  we  have  no  further  record  of  Hubert  Van  Eyck.  Even  his  arm 
which  was  severed  from  his  body  and  preserved  as  a  relic  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Bavon 
until  the  sixteenth  century,  has  disappeared. 

Of  the  life  of  Jan  Van  Eyck  there  exists  more  personal  detail.  He  was  born  at 
Maaseyck  between  the  years  1381  and  1390.  The  exact  date  has  not  yet  been  satis- 
factorily proved ;  but  many  arguments  tend  to  show  that  he  must  have  been,  as  the 
older  historians  assert,  at  least  twenty  years  younger  than  Hubert.  His  first  patron  was 
the  infamous  John  of  Bavaria,  the  warlike  Bishop  of  Liege,  surnamed,  from  his  cruelty 
to  his  own  subjects,  Jean  Sans  Pitie.  On  his  death-bed  this  stormy  prelate  recommended 
Jan  Van  Eyck,  "his  painter  and  varlet  de  chambre,"  to  the  magnificent  Philippe  le  Bon, 
Duke  of  Burgundy. 

Of  all  the  rich  and  rebellious  towns  of  Flanders,  Bruges,  in  the  time  of  the  Van 
Eycks,  was  the  richest  and  the  most  flourishing.  This  prosperous  commercial  city  was 
the  favorite  residence  of  the  good  Duke  Philippe,  who  more  frequently  held  his  court 
there  than  in  any  other  of  his  domains.  Could  there  be  more  favorable  conditions  for 
the  development  of  the  fine  arts?  A  prosperous  city,  with  a  wealthy  bourgeois  class, 
and  a  magnificent  court,  ruled  over  by  a  despotic  monarch,  who  loved  art  for  its  own 
sake  as  well  as  from  motives  of  ostentation.  It  was  to  this  city  and  this  court  that  Jan 
Van  Eyck  came,  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  accredited  by  the  recom- 
mendation of  Jean  Sans  Pitie.  who  not  only  left  his  painter,  but  likewise  his  dominions, 
to  Philippe  le  Bon.  Philippe,  who  possibly  might  have  known  Jan  at  Liege,  and  who, 
at  all  events,  was  well  acquainted  with  his  merits,  received  him  with  much  kindness,  and 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  143 


in  1425  appointed  him  to  be  his  "yarlet  de  chambre."  The  salary  of  Jan  Van  Eyck  as 
painter  and  varlet  was  fixed  at  one  hundred  livres  parisis,  and  the  duke's  treasurers 
were  exhorted  to  be  regular  in  their  payment  of  that  sum  half  yearly.  This  exhorta- 
tion was  evidently  necessary,  for  twice  Philippe  had  to  write  to  his  "trusty  and  well- 
beloved  people  of  accounts,"  reprimanding  them  for  having  been  negligent  in  this 
particular,  and  ordering  that  the  pension  "of  our  well-beloved  Jan  Van  Eyck"  should 
be  paid  "without  delay,  cunctation,  variation,  or  difficulty."  Over  and  above  this  fixed 
pension,  Jan  was  paid  by  the  Duke  for  various  missions  and  "secret  journeys"  that  he 
undertook  for  him.  In  1428  he  was  employed  on  more  open  and  important  service. 
Philippe,  who  had  already  lost  two  wives,  desired  again  to  enter  into  matrimony,  and 
being  pleased  with  the  description  he  had  received  of  Isabel  of  Portugal,  he  sent  an 
embassy  to  that  country  to  negotiate  a  marriage.  With  his  ambassadors,  Hue  de  Lannoy, 
and  the  Sire  de  Roubaix,  he  associated  his  painter,  who  was  to  paint  the  portrait  of  the 
young  princess,  and  to  send  it  home  at  once  to  Flanders,  for  Philippe  to  judge  of,  we 
may  presume,  before  finally  committing  himself  to  the  alliance.  The  ship  in  which  the 
embassy  from  Bruges  sailed  was  driven  by  reason  of  bad  weather  to  put  into  three 
English  ports,  Sandwich,  Plymouth  and  Falmouth,  on  her  outward  voyage,  so  that  it  is 
probable  England  had  the  honor  of  a  visit  from  the  great  Flemish  painter.  Finally, 
however,  Portugal  was  reached  in  safety,  December  18,  1428,  and  Jan  Van  Eyck  obtained 
sittings  from  the  lovely  Isabel,  and  sent  her  portrait  painted  "bien  au  vif"  to  her  suitor. 
After  having  thus  accomplished  his  commission,  he  went  on  a  pleasure  tour  through 
Portugal  and  some  parts  of  Spain,  returning  to  Lisbon  the  following  July,  when  the 
portrait  and  the  negotiations  having  proved  successful,  the  marriage  of  Philippe  of  Bur- 
gundy and  Isabel  of  Portugal  was  celebrated  by  proxy  with  great  splendor,  the  feasts 
and  rejoicings  on  the  occasion  lasting  until  September,  when  the  youthful  bride  at  last 
set  sail  for  her  husband's  dominions. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Portugal,  Jan  purchased  a  house  in  Bruges,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  until  his  death.  He  probably  married  about  the  same  time,  but  the 
first  notice  we  have  of  this  event  having  taken  place  is  in  June,  1434,  when  we  find 
that  the  Duke  stood  godfather  to  the  painter's  infant  daughter,  presenting  on  the 
occasion,  with  his  usual  profuse  magnificence,  no  less  than  six  silver  cups.  The  Duke 
also  used  frequently  to  visit  Jan  in  his  workshop,  and  on  such  occasions  was  wont  to 
distribute  all  the  silver  he  had  in  his  pocket  amongst  the  apprentices.  Indeed,  all  the 
records  we  have  of  the  relations  of  Philippe  le  Bon  and  his  varlet  painter  tend  to  prove 
that  there  was  a  cordial  intimacy  between  them. 

There  is  but  one  specimen  of  Jan  Van  Eyck's  work  in  the  Louvre,  but  that  is  a 
most  charming  one.      The   picture  is   usually  styled   "The  Virgin  and  the  Donor,"  and 


•44 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


represents  the  Chancellor  Rollin  kneeling  before  the  Virgin  and  Child  with  a  missal  in 
his  hand.  An  angel  with  gorgeous  wings  places  a  crown  on  the  Virgin's  head.  The 
landscape  background,  seen  through  three  arcades,  has  been  supposed  to  represent 
Jerusalem ;  but  if  so,  the  holy  city,  in  its  towers,  spires  and  bridges,  has  a  remarkable 
resemblance  to  an  old  Flemish  town.      A  chain  of  snow-clad  mountains  in  the  ethereal 


i  tkt  trigimal. 


CLEOPATRA'S    FEAST. 


by  G.  dt  Lairtstt 


distance  alone  gives  it  an   ideal   character.      The   delicacy  of  finish   and   minuteness  of 
detail  of  the  work  are  wonderful.     There  are  said  to  be  two  thousand  figures  in  it 

"The  Virgin  and  St  Donat"  (also  called  "The  Pala  Madonna,"  from  its  having  been 
painted  for  George  Van  der  Paele,  Canon  of  St  Donat),  in  the  Bruges  Academy,  is 
chiefly  distinguished  by  the  noble  figure  of  St  Donat.  In  the  same  gallery  there  is  an 
excellent  portrait  by  Jan  Van  Eyck,  of  his  wife,  painted  in  1439,  when  she  was  thirty- 
three  years  of  age.  "St  Barbara,"  in  a  landscape  with  a  large  tower  (her  emblem) 
rising  up  behind  her,  is  a  most   interesting  though   unfinished  work.      Only  the  sky  is 


A.RrEDEL.PIN2T 


r.   STOCKS.  AH.  A.   SCULPT 


T  JUL  K     IBKMJTY    OF    ALB  AN' 


FROM  THE    PICTURE    IN    THE     ROYAL    COLLECTION. 


THE   NETHERLANDS. 


«45 


colored,  but  the  drawing  in  every  part  is  complete,  and  the  admirable  care  with  which 
this  drawing  is  done  shows  how  patiently  the  master  worked.  It  is  in  the  Antwerp 
Academy. 

The  Van  Eycks  in  the  British  National  Gallery  are  of  undoubted  authenticity,  and 


From  the  original. 


THE    DEPARTURE    OF    HAGAR. 


by  P.  Van  Dyke. 


the  nation  is  truly  fortunate  in  possessing  such  excellent  specimens  of  a  master  whose 
genuine  works  are  exceedingly  rare,  although  his  name  is  often  found  in  catalogues. 
There  are  several  good  Van  Eycks  in  England  in  private  hands.  Especially  may  be 
mentioned  a  small  Madonna  and  Child,  belonging  to  Weld  Blundell,  Esq.,  at  Ince  Hall 


146  MASTERPIECES    OF    EUROPEAN  ART. 


(called  the  Ince  Madonna),  and  another  in  the  possession  of  the  Marquis  of  Exeter  at 
Burleigh,  which  is  said  to  be  even  more  minute  in  detail  and  finish  than  the  Rollin 
Madonna  in  the  Louvre. 

The  date  of  Jan  Van  Eyck's  death  was  for  a  long  time  as  uncertain  as  that  of  his 
birth,  but  it  is  now  proved  that  he  died  at  Bruges  on  the  9th  of  July,  1440.  The  last 
record  of  him  in  the  ducal  accounts  is  a  payment  to  the  church  and  convent  of  Maaseyck 
in   1 448-49,  in  order  that  "  Lyennie,  daughter  of  Jan  Van  Eyck,"  might  enter  the  convent 

Margaret  Van  Eyck,  the  sister  of  Hubert  and  Jan,  was  likewise  a  painter.  "She 
devoted  herself  to  art,"  says  Van  Mander,  "preserving  her  maidenhood  through  life." 
She  died  shortly  after  Hubert.  We  often  meet  with  pictures  with  her  name  in  galleries, 
but  none  of  them  are  proved  to  be  by  her.  The  name  of  Lambert  Van  Eyck  also,  a 
third  brother,  occurs  in  the  ducal  records. 

The  followers  of  the  Van  Eycks  of  the  School  of  Bruges  had  the  same  religious 
sentiment  as  their  masters,  and  expressed  it  in  similar  realistic  language.  The  spirit  of 
doubt  had  not  yet  stirred  their  reverent  minds,  and  they  went  on  painting  Virgins, 
Infants,  Saints,  Martyrs,  representations  of  heaven  and  hell,  Annunciations,  and  Cruci- 
fixions, with  fervid  belief  in  the  teaching  of  the  Church. 

Among  the  earliest  of  these  scholars  may  be  mentioned  Petrus  Cristus,  born  about 
the  same  time  as  Jan  Van  Eyck.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  pupil  of  Hubert's, 
whom  he  resembles  in  style  more  than  he  does  Jan.  His  best  known  picture  was  for 
some  period  in  the  possession  of  the  Jewelers  of  Antwerp.  It  represents  the  legend 
of  St  Godeberta,  and  is  remarkable  for  having  the  scene  laid  in  a  jeweler's  shop. 

Gerard  Vander  Meire  is  only  a  name  in  Flemish  art,  for  few  of  the  pictures 
attributed  to  him  can  be  satisfactorily  authenticated,  and  nothing  is  known  of  his  life 
but  a  slight  mention  of  him  by  Van  Mander,  who  says  he  lived  at  Ghent,  and  the  praise 
of  one  of  his  paintings  by  Sanderus. 

Hugo  Vander  Goes  was  born  at  Ghent,  and  was  a  distinguished  painter  in  1468, 
when  he  was  employed  at  the  marriage  of  Charles  the  Bold  to  Margaret  of  York  to 
produce  the  "pleasant  devices"  and  "histories"  that  were  set  forth  in  the  streets  on  that 
occasion.  He  likewise  had  the  superintendence  of  the  "entremetz"  at  the  ducal  banquet. 
But  although  Hugo  did  not  disdain  to  receive  fourteen  sous  a  day  for  work  of  this 
kind,  he  was  nevertheless  a  master  of  great  ability,  and  several  beautiful  paintings  still 
remain  by  his  hand.  Of  these  the  most  important  is,  perhaps,  the  altar-piece  of  Santa 
Maria  Nuova  in  Florence,  painted  for  the  rich  family  of  the  Portinari,  a  member  of 
which.  Tommaso  Portinari.  was  agent  for  the  Medici  at  this  time  in  Bruges,  and  by  this 
means  doubtless  became  acquainted  with  Hugo.  In  this  altar-piece,  a  Nativity,  he  has 
represented  rays  of  light   emanating   from   the  Child,  and   lighting  the  scene,  as  in  the 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  147 


well-known  "Notte"  of  Correggio.  Another  painting  by  him,  much  praised  by  old 
writers,  was  the  meeting  of  David  and  Abigail,  an  unusual  subject,  Flemish  painters 
seldom  choosing  their  themes  from  the  Old  Testament.  Under  the  guise  of  Abigail,  it 
is  said,  the  artist  depicted  a  young  lady  with  whom  he  was  desperately  in  love,  the 
David  being  his  own  portrait.  Lucas  Van  Here,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  wrote  a  sonnet 
on  this  picture,  in  which  Abigail  and  her  fair  attendants  approve  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  painter  has  represented  them.  They  can  do  everything  but  speak,  "an  uncommon 
fault  in  our  sex,"  they  are  made  to  remark.  But  it  is  to  be  feared  that  Hugo  Vander 
Goes  did  not  prosper  in  his  love  for  his  Abigail,  for  we  find  that  he  entered  the  Augus- 
tine Convent,  of  Rooden  Clooster,  near  Brussels,  where  he  died  in   1479. 

Rogier  Vander  Weyden,  called  by  Vasari,  Ruggieri  da  Bruggia,  was,  undoubtedly, 
the  greatest  of  Van  Eyck's  scholars.  He  was,  indeed,  a  master  of  original  power,  and 
it  was  chiefly  through  him  that  the  school  of  Bruges  extended  its  influence  over  the 
schools  of  Italy  and  Germany. 

Hans  Memling,  Memlinc,  or  Memmelinghe  (died  about  1499),  was  the  pupil  of 
Rogier  Vander  Weyden,  and  continues  the  direct  line  of  artistic  descent  from  Jan  Van 
Eyck.  His  works  have  less  force  of  mind  than  those  of  Vander  Weyden,  but  more 
beauty  and  grace.  Grace  and  beauty,  with  great  tenderness  of  feeling,  are  the  qualities 
he  added  to  the  school  of  Bruges.  His  outlines  are  softer,  his  draperies  more  flowing, 
and  his  Virgins  much  more  beautiful  than  those  of  his  master ;  he  was,  in  fact,  to  some 
extent,  an  ideal  painter,  whereas  Van  Eyck  and  Vander  Weyden  were  faithful  realists. 
The  place  and  time  of  his  birth  have  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  ascertained,  and  we 
have  as  little  true  information  about  his  life  as  we  have  of  most  other  of  these  old 
Flemish  painters. 

There  are  more  paintings  in  existence  by  Memling  than  by  any  other  master  of 
the  School  of  Bruges.  Rathgeber,  indeed,  enumerates  a  hundred,  but  many  of  these 
are  doubtful.  On  the  other  hand,  many  that  he  does  not  enumerate  probably  belong 
to  him.  He  appears  to  have  resided  principally  at  Bruges,  and  possessed  a  house  there 
in  the  Rue  St.  George,  so  he  couid  not  have  been  so  poor  as  tradition  has  made  him 
out.  In  fact,  he  must  in  his  later  life  have  been  a  man  of  property,  for  in  1480  he 
contributed  to  a  loan  raised  for  the  Emperor  Maximilian  in  Bruges.     He  died  in  1495. 

With  Memling  the  direct  Van  Eyck  descent  died  out.  Several  of  his  followers,  it 
is  true,  continued  to  paint  much  in  his  style  for  some  time  to  come,  but  they  were  none 
of  them  men  of  original  genius.  Most  of  the  rising  artists  of  the  time  deserted  the 
school  of  Bruges,  and  went  over  to  the  more  powerful  school  of  Antwerp,  which  was 
now  becoming  important,  and  which,  although  it  owed  its  origin  to  the  Van  Eycks, 
developed  in  a  totally  different  manner  to  that  of  Bruges. 


I4« 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Although  it  seems  now  tolerably  certain  that  Quentin  Massys  was  born  at  Louvain 
about  the  year  1444,  he  must  nevertheless  be  reckoned  as  the  founder  of  the  school  of 
Antwerp,  for  the  artists  of  Louvain  were  distinguished  for  nothing  more  than  a  weak 
imitation  of  Rogier  Vander  Weyden,  and  Dierick  Stuerbout  was  probably  the  only  man 
who  rose  to  any  importance.  The  school  of  Antwerp,  on  the  other  hand,  although  it 
preserved  the  Van  Eyck  methods  of  coloring  and  execution,  was  animated  by  a  totally 
different  spirit  to  that  of  Bruges,  and  had  a  far  wider  aim. 

According  to  the  well-known  story,  Quentin  Massys  forsook  his  first  calling  of 
blacksmith  from  love  of  a   painter's  daughter.      Her   father   had   refused  to  bestow  her 


/■torn  iht  original. 


tr  D.  I  an  Htem. 


FRUIT. 


From  tke  original. 


MOONLIGHT. 


by  Van  itr  Netr. 


hand  on  any  but  a  member  of  his  own  profession.  So  the  gallant  young  blacksmith 
of  Louvain  turned  painter,  and  won  his  bride  and  a  noble  fame  into  the  bargain.  Thus, 
as  tradition  relates,  and  a  tablet  set  up  to  his  memory  in  the  cathedral  records: 

"Connubialis  amor  de  Mulcibrc  fecit  Apellem." 

It  is  pleasant  to  find  that  this  pretty  little  narration,  which  has  been  long  doubted 
by  critics,  is  in  the  main  really  true,  so  many  similar  stories  about  painters  having 
vanished  beneath  the  stern  analysis  to  which  recent  investigators  have  submitted  the 
statements  of  the  older  art  historians. 

The  first  really  authenticated  date  in  Quentin  Massys'  history  occurs  in  the  register 
of  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Luke,  at  Antwerp.  He  was  received  into  that  guild  as  a 
free  master,  "/rant-malt  re,"   in   the   year  1491,  but   he   must   at   that   time   have  been  a 


MEDICINE 


ENGRAVED     BY      G.STODART.     FROM      THE       STATUE     BY      ERNST      HAHNEL 


THE   NETHERLANDS. 


149 


painter  of  some  note,  for  a  few  years  only  after  his  reception  a  medal  was  struck  in 
his  honor.  His  school  was  a  very  large  one,  and  attracted  painters  to  Antwerp  from 
all  the  towns  of  the  Netherlands,  in  the  same  way  as  they  had  before  been  attracted 
to  Bruges. 

A  strange   element   of  grotesque    humor   and    tendency  to   caricature   crops  up   in 
many  of  Massys'  works.     It  is  different  to  the  fantastic  spirit  of  early  German  art,  but 


From  the  original. 


THE    GOOD    SAMARITAN. 


by  Rembrandt. 


corresponds  somewhat  with  the  love  of  the  grotesque  evinced  by  the  early  Norman 
sculptors.  Often  in  an  earnest,  impressive  representation  by  him  of  a  solemn  event  we 
are  moved  to  a  smile  by  some  incongruous  head  or  feature.  Perhaps  this  characteristic 
in  his  art  was  derived  from  association  with  the  sarcastic  philosopher  of  Rotterdam.  We 
have  nothing  like  it  certainly  in  the  works  of  the  masters  of  Bruges. 

"The  Entombment  of  Christ"  was  painted  by  Massys  as  an  altar-piece  for  the 
chapel  of  the  Guild  of  Antwerp  Joiners  in  the  Cathedral.  He  was  to  receive  in  pay- 
ment for  it  three  hundred   florins,  equal  to  about   one   hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars, 


i5o  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


but  even  this  small  sum  was  not  to  be  paid  all  at  once,  but  in  three  parts,  and  was 
afterwards  commuted  into  a  payment  of  the  interest  to  two  of  his  children.  The  Joiners, 
however,  knew  how  to  prize  their  altar-piece,  for  we  find  that  they  refused  enormous 
sums  for  it  from  Philip  II  of  Spain,  and  Elizabeth  of  England,  both  of  whom  coveted 
its  possession.  However,  becoming  poorer,  they  sold  it  in  1580  to  the  magistracy  of 
Antwerp  for  fifteen  hundred  florins,  and  after  various  changes  of  place  it  has  now  found 
its  proper  position  in  the  Antwerp  Gallery. 

Besides  his  religious  paintings,  Quentin  Massys  was  celebrated  for  what  may  be 
called  his  money-pieces.  A  great  many  pictures  of  this  class  that  pass  with  his  name 
were  really  painted  by  his  son,  and  by  other  copyists  of  his  style,  but  some  few  are 
genuine,  and  his  admirable  representations  of  subjects  of  this  kind  evidently  induced  a 
taste  for  them  amongst  wealthy  purchasers,  and  led  to  the  frequent  repetitions  that  we 
meet  widi  of  "Quentin  Massys'  Misers."  "The  Banker  and  his  Wife"  in  the  Louvre,  and 
the  "Misers"  of  Windsor  Castle,  are  the  most  noteworthy  examples  of  this  class. 

In  the  Uffizi  Gallery  at  Florence  there  is  a  portrait  of  Quentin  Massys  and  his 
second  wife,  Catherine  Heyens,  dated  1520.  His  first  wife,  die  painter's  daughter, 
Adelaide  Van  Tuylt,  must  have  died  some  time  before  1 508,  for  in  that  year  he  married 
again.  He  had  six  children  by  his  first  wife,  and  seven  by  his  second.  Besides  his 
son,  Jan  Massys,  he  appears  to  have  had  two  other  sons  who  were  painters.  Another 
Quentin  Massys,  probably  a  grandson,  is  likewise  mentioned  as  having  been  received 
into  the  Antwerp  Guild  in  1574  as  "fits  de  maitre."  Quentin  lived  to  a  good  old  age, 
dying  in  1530  or  1531.  His  successors  very  soon  departed  from  his  vigorous  style  of 
painting,  and  fell  into  weakness  and  imitation. 

Jan  Gossaert,  or  Mabuse,  as  he  is  called  from  the  place  of  his  birth,  Mauberge 
(born  about  1470),  was  the  first  Flemish  painter  who  felt  the  influence  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance.  It  would  seem  probable  that  Mabuse  studied  in  the  school  of  Quentin 
Massys,  but  we  have  no  information  about  his  early  life.  His  early  pictures,  however, 
are  all  painted  in  the  old  Flemish  manner,  and  have  a  power  of  color  and  mastery  of 
execution  that  no  master  of  his  school,  not  even  Quentin  Massys,  has  excelled.  He  was 
undoubtedly  a  great  Flemish  painter,  but  unfortunately  he  tried  to  be  a  great  Italian 
painter,  and  in  this  he  failed  miserably.  Two  pictures  in  the  Antwerp  Museum — "The 
Four  Maries  returning  from  the  Tomb  of  Christ,"  and  "The  Upright  Judges" — may  be 
taken  as  examples  of  his  first  or  Flemish  manner,  while  a  magnificent  triptich,  at 
Brussels,  of  "Christ  in  the  House  of  Simon,"  weakly  resembling  one  of  die  gorgeous 
banqueting  scenes  of  Paolo  Veronese,  is  a  good  specimen  of  his  Italian  style.  Mabuse 
died  at  Antwerp  in  1532,  and  not  in  the  prison  of  Middleburg,  as  is  stated  by  his  early 
biographers. 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  151 


Bernard  Van  Orley,  or  Bernard  Van  Brussel  (1470-1541),  was  contemporary  with 
Mabuse,  and  was  likewise  a  leader  in  the  unfortunate  revolution  which  overthrew  the 
Van  Eyck  succession,  and  set  up  a  foreign  rule  in  the  Netherlands.  He  and  Michael 
Coxcien  superintended  the  manufacture  in  the  Netherlands  of  the  tapestries  from  the 
Raphael  cartoons,  and  it  must  be  owned  that  with  such  works  as  these  constantly  before 
them,  it  would  have  needed  powerfully  original  minds  to  resist  the  influence  of  the  great 
master.  Diirer  met  Van  Orley  at  Brussels,  at  the  court  of  Margaret  the  Regent  of  the 
Netherlands,  and  records  that  "Maister  Bernhart"  invited  him  to  such  a  "costly  meal  as 
could  not  be  paid  for  with  ten  florins !" 

Michael  Coxcien,  or  Van  Coxcyen  (1499-1592),  was  the  pupil  of  Van  Orley,  and 
imitated  his  master's  imitations.  He  has  been  styled  "the  Flemish  Raphael"  by  his 
admirers,  but  we  might  more  appropriately  use  the  title  in  scoff.  He  is,  in  fact,  Raphael 
many  times  diluted,  and  with  a  slight  addition  of  Flemish  vulgarity  in  the  weak  liquid. 
Perhaps  the  best,  certainly  the  most  pleasing  work  he  ever  accomplished  was  a  copy  of 
"The  Mystic  Lamb  of  St.  Bavon,"  which  he  executed  for  his  patron,  Philip  II  of  Spain. 
It  took  him  two  years  to  paint,  and  was  very  faithfully  rendered.  Michael  Coxcien  was 
the  son  of  a  painter  of  the  same  name,  but  of  whose  works  nothing  is  known.  He 
likewise  had  a  son,  Raphael  Coxcien,  admitted  into  the  Antwerp  Guild  in  1585. 

Jan  Schoreel  (born  1495,  died  1562)  was  a  pupil  of  Mabuse,  and  also,  it  is  said, 
of  Albert  Diirer,  but  be  this  as  it  may,  his  art  was  neither  true  Flemish  nor  true 
German,  but  of  a  composite  style,  in  which  the  Italian  element  largely  preponderated. 
Adrian  VI  made  him  overseer  of  the  art  treasures  of  the  Vatican,  and  he  resided  in 
Rome  for  a  time,  but  on  the  death  of  Adrian  he  returned  to  his  own  country,  and  was 
made  prebend  of  the  church  of  St.  Mary  in  Utrecht,  in  which  town  he  resided  until 
his  death. 

Lamprecht  Susterman,  better  known  as  Lambert  Lombard  (1 506-1 566),  was  another 
artist  who  was  ruined  by  an  early  visit  to  Italy.  He  went  thither  in  the  suite  of  Car- 
dinal Pole,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  Andrea  del  Sarto.  After  his  return  he  more 
than  any  other,  perhaps,  spread  the  Italian  taste  far  and  wide  in  the  Netherlands.  He 
had  a  large  school  in  Liege,  and,  unfortunately,  many  scholars  who  profited  only  too 
well  by  his  example  and  his  teaching. 

Frans  van  Vriendt,  called  Frans  Floris  (1 520-1 570),  was  the  most  notable  of 
Lambert  Lombard's  scholars,  and  propagated  the  teachings  of  his  master  to  an  alarming 
extent.  He  had,  it  is  said,  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  scholars  in  his  school 
at  Antwerp,  but  we  do  not  find  one  great  artist  proceeding  from  this  extensive  school. 

It  is  needless  to  trace  the  successors  of  Quentin  Massys  and  Mabuse  any  further. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that   the    succession    from   Frans   Floris  was   carried   on  by  a  host  of 


«5* 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART 


inferior  painters,  of  more  or  less  merit  when  compared  with  each  other,  but  of  no  merit 
at  all  when  compared  with  the  great  masters  in  Italy,  Flanders  and  Germany,  who  had 
preceded  diem.      Amongst  diem,  perhaps,  the    three    Bkeugiiels,  known   respectively  as 


/>.•■  tkt  trtftmtl. 


THE   GALLANT 


fy  G.  Mttn. 


Peasant  Breughel,  Hell  Bmrjohbl  and  Velvet  Breughel,  from  the  class  of  subjects 
they  painted,  may  be  distinguished.  From  the  solemn  religious  realism  of  the  masters 
of  Bruges,  Flemish  art  had,  indeed,  fallen  when  it  could  express  religious  events  with 
a  vulgarity  equal  to  that  of  Teniers  and  the  painters  of  his  school,  but  without  any  of 


THE    NETHERLANDS. 


*53 


his  redeeming  power  and  execution.  But  whilst  the  direct  artistic  descendants  of  the 
Van  Eycks  were  thus  wasting  their  powers  in  attempted  rivalry  with  the  Italians,  there 
were  a  few  early  Dutch  masters  who  preserved  for  a  longer  time  their  national  style 
and  individual  originality  of  mind.  A  school  of  painting  seems  to  have  existed  at  an 
early  date  at   Haarlem,    founded    by    Albert    Van    Ouwater,    a    contemporary   of  Rogier 


From  the  original. 


THE    NIGHT   WATCH. 


by  Rembrandt. 


Vander  Weyden.  The  early  school  of  Holland  is,  indeed,  so  totally  separate  in  style 
and  aim  from  the  later  Dutch  schools,  that  for  that  reason  it  seems  better  to  consider 
it  here  under  Flemish  art,  to  which  it  is  at  all  events  allied  in  point  of  date,  than  to 
refer  it  to  Dutch  art,  with  which  it  has  nothing  in  common 

Cornells  Engelbrechtsen  (1468-1533)  is  the  earliest  master  of  Holland  of  whom 
we  have  any  authentic  record.  His  father  was  a  wood-engraver,  and  Cornelis,  who  had 
probably  studied  at  Bruges,  introduced  the  oil  method  into  Leyden.  The  greater  number 
of  his  works  were  destroyed   by  the  iconoclasts,  but  a  few  remain    that  are  thought   to 


154  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


be  genuine,  the  most  important  Iwing  a  triptich  in  the  town-hall  at  Leyden.  The  best 
known  and  most  characteristic  artist  of  this  school  is  Luc  Jacobez,  the  celebrated  Lucas 
Van  LxYDKN  11494-1533).  whose  rare  engravings  are  amongst  the  most  coveted  treasures 
of  connoisseurs.  His  genius  must  have  been  remarkably  precocious  in  its  development, 
for,  before  he  was  twelve  years  of  age  he  was  already  known  as  a  painter  and  engraver, 
and  also,  it  is  said,  as  a  wood-carver,  and  amongst  his  early  works  are  reckoned  the 
curious  engraving  of  "The  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,"  and  nine  circular  prints  of  the 
scenes  of  the  Passion,  executed  with  extreme  care  and  finish.  He  is  now  far  better 
known  by  his  engravings  than  his  paintings,  the  latter  being  extremely  rare,  and  for  the 
most  part  in  out-of-the-way  places,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  form  an  opinion  about  them. 
But  it  is  in  his  prints  that  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  his  genius  are  most  strikingly 
manifested.  Here  his  wild  fancy  has  full  play,  and  he  treats  not  only  the  fantastic 
legends  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  also  the  events  of  biblical  history,  in  a  spirit  of 
grotesque  realism  that  shocks  minds  accustomed  only  to  the  dignity  and  beauty  of  Italy, 
or  to  the  pious  realism  of  the  Bruges  masters.  There  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  a 
sort  of  squint  in  his  mental  vision,  which  prevented  him  from  seeing  things  in  their 
natural  positions,  and  led  him  to  all  kinds  of  whimsical  effects.  "His  works,"  says 
Schlegel,  "are  sometimes  like  those  of  a  highly  intellectual  but  sickly  child,  and  some- 
times like  those  of  a  wonderful  but  premature  old  age."  This  may  be  accounted  for  in 
part  by  the  circumstances  of  his  life.  His  genius  was,  as  we  have  seen,  very  prema- 
ture in  development,  and  it  was  also  premature  in  decline.  For  the  last  six  years  of 
his  life  (and  he  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine)  he  was  a  prey  to  some  mysterious  disease, 
which  clouded  his  brilliant  life  with  pain  and  melancholy.  Such  works  as  he  then 
executed  were  done  on  a  bed  of  sickness. 

Peter  Paul  Rubens  (1 577-1 640)  was  the  master  who  raised  Flemish  art  to  a  high 
pinnacle  of  greatness.  He  never,  it  is  true,  attempted  to  revive  the  religious  spirit  that 
liad  animated  the  early  Flemish  masters.  That  was  now  utterly  dead,  or  at  all  events 
had  no  place  in  Rubens'  art ;  not  that  he  was  in  any  respect  an  irreligious  man,  like 
many  who  have,  nevertheless,  painted  deeply  devout  pictures;  on  the  contrary,  we  know 
that  in  private  life  he  was  upright  and  charitable,  performing  all  the  moral  and  social 
duties  of  life  with  the  utmost  propriety,  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  in  his  works 
of  any  spiritual  emotion  ;  his  mind  was  never  clouded  by  doubt,  carried  away  by  enthu- 
siasm, nor  troubled  by  the  mystery  of  life.  His  life,  in  truth,  had  no  mystery  in  it,  but 
was  one  continued  course  of  success  and  worldly  prosperity,  and  his  art  reflects  its  ease 
and  full  enjoyment 

Considerable  doubt  formerly  hung  over  the  birthplace  of  Rubens ;  Antwerp  and 
Cologne  both  claiming  the  honor.     It  has,  however,  been  recently  ascertained  that  it  was 


1=1 

m 


o 


(5 

1=1 


H 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  155 


in  neither  of  these  cities,  but  in  Siegen,  a  town  of  Westphalia,  that  the  great  Nether- 
land  master  first  saw  the  light,  on  the  day  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  June  29,  1577.  A 
year  after  his  birth,  his  parents,  who  had  been  driven  from  the  Netherlands  by  the 
religious  disturbances  of  that  time,  settled  in  Cologne,  where  the  young  Rubens  was 
brought  up  until  he  was  ten  years  old,  when,  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  his  mother 
returned  to  Antwerp.  Here,  as  he  showed  a  marked  predilection  for  painting,  he  was 
placed,  after  some  preliminary  instruction  by  Adam  Van  Noort,  with  a  master  of  note 
in  his  time,  Otto  Van  Veen,  called  Otto  V^enius,  whose  gaudy  and  yet  cold  coloring 
offers  a  singular  contrast  to  that  of  his  celebrated  pupil. 

In  1600  Rubens  went  to  Italy,  where  the  coloring  of  the  Venetians  failed  not  to 
produce  a  great  impression  upon  his  art.  His  gorgeous  style  and  coloring  are,  in  fact, 
directly  founded  on  those  of  Paolo  Veronese,  who  beyond  all  other  Italians  seems  most 
immediately  to  have  influenced  him.  But  unlike  the  other  Netherland  painters  of  his 
time,  he  profited  by  his  Italian  studies  without  sacrificing  his  own  individuality;  what  he 
took  from  the  Italians  he  quickly  assimilated  and  made  his  own,  his  powerful  originality 
preventing  his  ever  being  an  imitator.  In  Italy  he  entered  the  service  of  Vincenzio 
Gonzaga,  Duke  of  Mantua,  who  not  only  employed  him  as  a  painter,  but  likewise,  it  is 
said,  entrusted  him  with  a  secret  mission  to  Philip  III  of  Spain.  On  his  return  from 
Spain  he  appears  to  have  passed  some  time  in  Rome,  where  Michael  Angelo's  works 
doubtless  contributed  to  his  rich  stores  of  knowledge,  and  perhaps  first  led  him  to 
attempt  that  bold  dramatic  action  which  so  peculiarly  marks  his  works.  In  1608  he 
returned  to  Antwerp,  being  summoned  there  by  the  death  of  his  mother,  and  from 
henceforth,  although  he  made  frequent  journeys  abroad,  both  for  pleasure  and  on 
diplomatic  missions,  he  made  that  city  his  home. 

A  rich  pension  and  the  appointment  of  Court  Painter  given  him  by  Albert  and 
Isabella,  the  Regents  of  the  Netherlands,  bound  him,  in  fact,  "by  a  chain  of  gold,"  says 
one  of  his  biographers,  to  his  country,  although  he  often  longed  for  the  blue  skies  and 
soft  breezes  of  Italy.  He  stipulated,  however,  that  he  should  not  be  obliged  to  reside 
at  Brussels,  the  seat  of  the  Court,  but  built  himself  a  magnificent  house  in  the  Italian 
style  at  Antwerp,  where  he  soon  attracted  a  large  school,  and  was  universally  acknow- 
ledged as  the  greatest  master  of  his  time. 

The  famous  "Descent  from  the  Cross,"  of  Antwerp  Cathedral,  which  is  usually 
reckoned  Rubens'  greatest  work,  formed  the  centre  subject  of  this  grand  altar-piece,  and 
whatever  may  be  the  faults  of  conception  and  sentiment  of  this  picture,  certainly,  for 
vigorous  color  and  effective  chiaroscuro,  it  stands  unequalled.  Such  a  work  could  not 
fail  to  increase  the  ever-growing  renown  of  the  master,  and  while  pupils  flocked  to  his 
studio,  sovereigns  and  princes  vied  with   one   another  to  show  him  favor.      No  painter, 


l56 


MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


except  perhaps  Titian,  was  ever  so  courted  by  Fortune.  But  it  was  not  only  to  his 
artistic  abilities  that  Rubens  owed  his  high  position :  he  was  likewise  a  most  successful 
diplomatist,  and  although  we  may  regret  that  his  time  should  have  been  taken  up  with 
affairs  of  state,  the    Infanta    Isabella,  when,  at   the   death   of  her  husband,  she  was   left 


/  /    m 


$y  /•    Afirri 


F    MIERIS    AND    HIS    WIFE. 


alone  in  the  government  of  the  Netherlands,  found  him  a  valuable  counselor.  In  1628 
he  undoubtedly  went  to  Spain  on  Suite  business,  and  met  with  a  most  flattering  recep- 
tion at  the  Court  of  Madrid.  The  great  beauty  of  his  person,  the  amiability  of  his 
character,  and  the  courtly  grace  of  his  manners  seem,  indeed,  to  have  fascinated  all 
classes.  In  Hngland,  likewise,  when-  he  was  sent  in  the  following  year  to  negotiate  a 
peace  with  Charles  I,  he  was  eminently  successful. 


THE   NETHERLANDS. 


157 


Soon  after  his  return  to  Antwerp,  Rubens  married  a  second  time ;  his  first  wife, 
Isabella  Brandt,  having  died  in  1626,  leaving  him  two  sons.  His  second  choice  fell  upon 
Helene  Fourment  (Forman),  a  beautiful  girl  of  sixteen,  belonging  to  one  of  the  wealthiest 
families  in  Antwerp.  He  has  left  us  several  portraits  of  his  wives,  and  Helene  Four- 
ment, especially,  served   him   as   a   model  in  many  of  his  pictures.      In   such   works  as 


From  the  original, 


THE    ANCIENT    SUITOR 


by  G.  Mieris. 


"The  Battle  of  the  Amazons,"  "The  Last  Judgment,"  "The  Lion-Hunt,"  "The  Rape  of 
the  Daughters  of  Leucippus,"  and  the  marvelous  smaller  picture  of  "The  Fall  of  the 
Damned,"  we  see  him  in  the  full  exercise  of  his  strength,  and  are  overpowered  with 
wonder  and  admiration.  There  is  a  sense  of  rapid  movement  in  the  glorious  confusion 
of  the  last-named  picture,  for  instance,  which  no  other  painter  has  ever  fully  expressed. 
We  have  had  numerous  falls  of  the  damned,  expulsions  of  rebel  angels,  etc.,  but  none 
ever  fell  like  those  of  Rubens,  with  rushing  tumultuous  movement,  so  that  we  seem  to 


iS8  MASTkRPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


feel  them  actually  tumbling  headlong  upon  us.  In  "The  Battle  of  the  Amazons,"  like- 
wise, the  powerful  action  carries  us  along  with  it  into  the  midst  of  the  fearful  struggle. 
His  versatile  genius  is  also  apparent  in  his  landscapes.  "Peter  Paul  Rubens  alone," 
says  Coleridge,  "handles  the  everyday  ingredients  of  all  common  landscapes  as  they 
are  handled  in  nature;  he  throws  them  into  a  vast  and  magnificent  whole,  consisting 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  all  things  therein,"  which  means,  in  more  prosaic  criticism, 
that  his  landscapes  are  remarkable  for  their  breadth,  and  masterly  distribution  of  light 
and  shade. 

Rubens  has  suffered,  like  so  many  other  masters,  by  having  too  many  pictures 
attributed  to  him.  In  spite  of  what  we  are  told  of  his  marvelous  rapidity  of  execution, 
we  cannot  suppose  that  more  than  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  thousands  of  pictures 
which  now  bear  his  name  were  really  painted  by  him.  He  had  a  large  school,  and 
reckoned  in  it  such  pupils  as  Vandyke,  Teniers,  Jordaens,  and  die  great  animal  painter, 
Snyders ;  it  is  not,  therefore,  much  to  be  wondered  at  that  even  in  his  life-time  he  left 
many  of  his  designs  to  be  executed  by  his  scholars,  and  that  many  of  the  pictures 
issuing  from  his  atelier  were  scarcely  touched  by  the  master. 

Anthony  Vandyck  (1599-1 641)  may  be  called  the  Velasquez  of  Flanders,  both 
artists  being  especially  noted  for  the  dignified  air  and  courtly  elegance  of  their  aristo- 
cratic portraits.  No  vulgar  or  commonplace  character  can  be  found  amongst  their 
sitters ;  all  are  courdy  gentlemen,  gallant  soldiers,  and  delicate  ladies,  or  are  transmuted 
into  such  by  the  painter's  refined  taste,  which,  whilst  preserving  to  the  full  the  individu- 
ality of  the  likeness,  surrounded  it,  as  it  were,  with  the  perfumed  atmosphere  of  courts. 

Vandyck  entered  the  school  of  Rubens,  at  Antwerp,  at  a  very  early  age,  and  his 
abilities  being  soon  apparent,  he  received  every  assistance  from  his  generous  master, 
who  always  sought  to  further  his  pupils'  interest,  even  when  he  was,  as  in  Vandyck's 
case,  in  danger  of  rivalry. 

Before  his  twentieth  birthday  he  was  admitted  into  the  Antwerp  guild  of  painters, 
thus  becoming  a  master  himself  whilst  still  working  under  a  master.  After  this,  in  1623, 
he  went  to  Italy,  and  passed  some  time  at  Venice,  studying  the  works  of  Titian  and 
the  other  great  masters.  From  Venice  he  proceeded  to  Rome,  and  thence  to  Genoa, 
where  he  made  a  longer  stay,  and  where  many  works  by  him  may  still  be  found.  In 
1626,  however,  he  must  have  been  again  in  Antwerp,  for  an  agent  of  the  Earl  of 
Arundel,  writing  at  the  close  of  that  year  to  his  lord  from  Antwerp,  says:  "Vandyck 
is  here  with  Rubens,  and  his  works  are  beginning  to  be  as  much  esteemed  as  those  of 
his  master." 

It  is  as  a  portrait-painter  that  Vandyck  has  acquired  his  almost  unrivaled  fame.  A 
magnificent  series  of  portraits  of  all  the  distinguished  painters  of  his  day,  executed  soon 


TEE     BUNCH    OF     GRAPES 


FROM     TH1  :il   THF.     ROYAL    COLLECTION 


G.LEVY.  SCULPT 


n  V  M  U  '  T.'      «.     H  A  13  Cj  T  W 


THE    NETHERLANDS. 


'59 


after  his  return  from  Italy,  proved  that  this  was  his  true  vocation ;  and  from  this  time 
he  gave  himself  up  almost  entirely  to  this  branch  of  his  art,  even  his  historic  and  ideal 
characters  always  being  more  or  less  of  an  individual  or  portrait-like  character. 

About  the  year  1631,  Vandyck  went  to  England,  probably  moved  to  do  so  by  the 
flattering  reception  that  Rubens  had  recently  experienced  in  that  country,  but  Charles  I 
seems  to  have  been  unaware  at  this  time  of  Vandyck's  fame  as  an  artist,  and  his  visit 
created  no  sensation.  In  much  disgust  he  returned  to  Antwerp,  but  no  sooner  had  he 
gone,  than  Charles  I  found  out  what  a  treasure  he  had  suffered  to  escape  him,  and  in 
all  haste  sent  a  personal  invitation  to  him  to  return.  Accordingly,  in  1632  he  returned, 
and  this  time  had  no  cause  to  complain  of  his  reception.  Charles  I  delighted  to  have 
such  a  painter  in  his  service,  gave  him  at  once  a  salary  of  ^200  a  year,  besides  raising 
him  to  the  dignity  of  knighthood. 

One  of  Vandyck's  most  beautiful  female  portraits  is  that  of  Lady  Venetia,  wife  of 
Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  now  in  Windsor  Castle.  The  Lady  Venetia  is  said  to  have  been 
poisoned  by  her  husband,  who  passionately  loved  her,  by  means  of  a  potion  that  he  had 
himself  prepared  and  administered  to  her  for  the  purpose  of  heightening  her  beauty. 
Calumny  was  also  busy  with  the  fair  fame  of  this  noted  beauty,  and  in  allusion  to  this, 
the  emblems  of  defeated  slander  lie  around  her  in  Vandyck's  celebrated  picture. 

Vandyck  died  in  London,  in  his  forty-third  year,  and  in  spite  of  his  extravagant 
style  of  living,  left  a  large  amount  of  property  behind  him. 

Gaspard  de  Crayer  (i  582-1 669)  was  a  Flemish  painter,  much  esteemed  in  his  own 
time,  but  whose  works  have  failed  to  gain  the  approving  verdict  of  posterity  like  those 
of  his  great  contemporaries  Rubens  and  Vandyck.  He  was  the  friend  of  Rubens,  but 
was  not  one  of  his  followers,  although  he  did  not  altogether  escape  his  influence.  He 
belongs  in  style  more  to  the  preceding  school  of  Flemish  art — that,  namely,  intermediate 
between  the  early  religious  schools  of  Flanders,  and  the  florid  school,  as  it  has  been 
called,  of  Rubens,  and  is  somewhat  cold  in  coloring  and  conventional  in  style. 

Jacob  Jordaens  (1 593-1 678)  imitated  Rubens  in  his  coarsest  style.  His  pictures 
are  generally  vulgar  in  conception  and  glaring  in  color,  for  he  aimed  at  the  splendor 
of  Rubens'  coloring  without  understanding  its  brilliant  harmonies.  The  master  never 
jars  even  in  his  loudest  notes,  whereas  many  of  his  pupils  produce  strong  discords. 
Jordaens  was,  however,  a  clever  and  powerful  painter,  notwithstanding  his  crude  and 
discordant  coloring,  and  in  many  of  his  works  comes  very  near  to  Rubens.  He  suffers, 
indeed,  by  having  many  of  his  good  pictures  attributed  to  his  master. 

Frans  Snyders  ( 1 572-1 657),  as  an  animal  painter,  is  almost  equal  to  Rubens,  to 
whom  he  was  long  an  assistant.  His  wild  beasts  are  truly  marvelous.  They  are  usually 
depicted  by  him  when  their  ferocious  instincts  have  been  called  forth  by  the  most  angry 


i6o 


MASTERPIECES    OF    EUROPEAN  ART. 


passions;  hunts,  and  fights  with  lions,  tigers  and  such  like  creatures  being  his  favorite 
subjects.  He  likewise  painted  Bowers  and  vegetables  with  extreme  skill,  and  was  often 
the  painter  of  these  accessories  as  well  as  of  the  animals  in  Rubens'  pictures. 

Entirely  different   from    Rubens   and  Vandyck,   both    in   style   and   in    the   class  of 


Nw^lI 

' — ^ ' v-   t  .- — — ■  -■■ i 1:  \  . 

Ftvm  Ikt  original. 


THE   MUSIC    LESSON 


*r  (».  Tirtmrg. 


subjects  he  chose  for  representation,  is  the  third  great  master  of  the  Flemish  school  of 
painting  in  the  seventeenth  century,  David  Teniers  the  Younger  (1610-1694).  Although, 
undoubtedly,  greatly  influenced  by  Rubens,  even  if  he  were  not  one  of  his  scholars,  In- 
had  none  of  that  master's  dashing  magnificence.  His  strong  preference  for  small  genre 
subjects,  instead  of  mythological  and  historical  scenes,  separates  him  still  more  from  a 
painter  like  Rubens,  who  felt  his  activities  cramped  unless  he  had  a  large  arena  allowed 


THE        HE-  R  M 


L^S 


THE    NETHERLANDS. 


161 


him  for  their  display.  Teniers,  in  truth,  belongs  by  his  style  to  the  Dutch  genre  school 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  rather  than  to  the  Flemish  school  of  that  time,  as  repre- 
sented by  Rubens  and  his  chief  followers.  Like  Adrian  Brauwer,  Frans  Hals,  Adrian 
Van   Ostade,   and    several    other    Dutch    masters    of  the    same   stamp,    he    delighted   in 


From  the  original. 


THE    DANCING    DOG. 


by  Jean  Stein. 


representations  of  peasant  and  tavern  life,  and  exercised  his  marvelous  skill  in  the 
delineation  of  drinking-bouts,  merry-makings,  village  fairs,  peasant  weddings,  guard- 
rooms, markets,  rustic  feasts,  dances,  and  other  similar  subjects.  Alchemy,  also,  which 
was  a  favorite  pursuit  in  his  time,  attracted  his  observation,  and  his  representations  of 
the  victims  to  the  search  for  the  philosopher's    stone   are  amongst  his  cleverest  produc- 


162  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


tions.  He  was  likewise  fond  of  wizards,  witches  and  incantation  scenes,  to  which  he 
gave  a  humorous  rather  than  a  weird  effect  His  comic  imps  and  demons  are  conceived 
in  a  totally  different  spirit  from  that  which  produced  the  grotesque  realism  of  early 
religious  art,  or  die  fantastic  conceptions  of  German  art  They  have  nothing  super- 
natural about  them,  but  are  simply  the  offspring  of  the  painter's  humorous  imagination, 
having  no  reality  to  his  mind.  In  his  well-known  "Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,"  for 
instance,  in  the  Louvre,  a  subject  of  grim  earnest  with  earlier  masters,  the  whole  affair 
is  treated  as  a  kind  of  joke.  Such  devils  as  these  could  never  inspire  horror  or  fear; 
one  frightful  little  imp  is  positively  smoking  a  pipe.  In  the  picture  of  the  same  subject 
in  the  Berlin  Gallery,  the  tempting  fiend  takes  the  shape  of  a  ripe  Flemish  beauty,  and 
here  also  the  various  impish  creatures,  fighting  and  screaming  in  the  air,  have  an  unmis- 
takably comic  character. 

Little  is  known  of  the  personal  history  of  Teniers,  but  it  would  seem  that,  although 
perhaps  not  quite  such  a  fine  gentleman  as  Rubens  or  Vandyck,  he  held  a  high  position 
in  society,  and  that  his  acquaintance  was  courted  by  men  of  rank  and  distinction.  He 
learned  painting  under  his  father,  David  Teniers  the  Elder,  an  artist  of  some  repute, 
and  was  admitted  into  the  Antwerp  Guild  as  early  as  1632-33.  His  religious  subjects, 
or  rather  the  subjects  to  which  he  has  given  a  religious  title,  are  the  most  unpleasing 
of  all  his  works,  the  most  sacred  characters  being  conceived  under  the  same  vulgar 
forms  as  his  boors  and  drunken  peasants.  Such  subjects  as  "Christ  Crowned  with 
Thorns,"  "Christ  Buffeted."  and  "Peter  Denying  Christ,"  are  degraded,  for  instance,  info 
vulgar  and  almost  repulsive  scenes  of  low  life.  He  was,  in  fact,  totally  wanting  in  that 
elevation  of  feeling  that  marks  all  the  great  Italian  masters.  In  landscape  he  is  often 
excellent 

Teniers  had  many  pupils  and  imitators,  several  of  whom,  it  is  said,  paid  him  the 
compliment  of  signing  his  name  on  their  works;  but  none  of  them  have  any  original 
talent,  and  they  need  not.  therefore,  detain  us  here. 

At  the  head  of  the  Dutch  school  of  painting  in  the  seventeenth  century  stands  the 
great  name  of  Rembrandt  Van  Ryn.  A  few  foolish  incapable  artists  carried  on  the 
Dutch  line  of  succession,  from  the  time  of  Lucas  Van  Leyden  to  that  of  Rembrandt, 
lut  fortunately  their  works  have  for  the  most  part  perished,  and  their  names  are  not- 
necessary  to  comment  upon  here.  We  will  leave  them  in  the  limbo  into  which  they 
have  fallen,  and  turn  to  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  original  artists  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen. 

REMBRANDT  Hermanszoon  van  Ryn  (son  of  Herman  of  the  Rhine)  was  born  at 
Leyden  (not  in  an  old  mill  on  the  Rhine)  in  1608.  His  father,  instead  of  being  a  poor 
miller,  was   a   bourgeois   in    easy   circumstances,  who   at    his   death    left  a   considerable 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  163 


property  to  Rembrandt  and  his  six  brothers  and  sisters.  Rembrandt  was  educated  at 
the  Latin  School  at  Leyden,  but  as  he  early  showed  a  far  greater  taste  for  art  than  for 
learning,  his  father  refrained  from  sending  him  to  the  University  as  he  had  intended, 
and  placed  him  under  a  master  named  Isaakszoon  van  Swanenberg  to  study  painting. 
Pieter  Lastman,  a  painter  of  some  reputation  in  his  day,  and  Jacob  Pinas,  are  likewise 
said  to  have  been  his  teachers,  but  his  course  of  study  with  these  masters  could  not 
have  been  long,  for  in  1630,  when  he  was  only  twenty-two,  we  find  that  he  had  set  up 
for  himself  at  Amsterdam,  and  had  gained  much  notice  by  the  originality  of  his  style. 
Four  years  afterwards,  namely,  in  1635,  he  married  Saskia  Uilenberg,  a  young  lady 
belonging  to  a  noble  Friesland  family,  and  possessed  of  a  good  fortune,  which  at  her 
death,  in   1642,  she  left  to  Rembrandt  in  trust  for  their  only  son  Titus. 

Why,  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  it  should  have  been  always  asserted  that  Rem- 
brandt married  a  low  peasant  girl  of  Ransdorp,  it  is  difficult  to  understand,  unless  the 
facts  were  invented  to  suit  the  preconceived  theory  of  Rembrandt  being  a  vulgar  sot, 
whom  no  lady  would  have  married.  But  we  not  only  find  that  the  rich  and  beautiful 
Saskia  chose  him  for  a  husband,  but  that  some  of  the  most  learned  and  polished  men 
in  Amsterdam  sought  his  society,  and  valued  his  friendship.  The  burgomaster  Jan  Six, 
and  the  celebrated  professor  Nikolaus  Tulp,  depicted  in  "The  Anatomy  Lesson,"  were 
his  intimate  friends,  and  the  staid  Dutch  poet  Decker  wrote  a  sonnet  in  his  praise.  In 
1656,  however,  he  became  a  bankrupt,  and  all  his  valuable  pictures,  drawings  and  other 
works  of  art,  as  well  as  his  household  effects,  were  sold  under  a  judicial  execution. 

After  this  trouble,  which  was,  probably,  caused  more  by  the  financial  difficulties  of 
the  times  than  by  any  fault  of  his  own,  Rembrandt  seems  to  have  led  a  very  secluded 
life  in  Amsterdam,  devoted  entirely  to  his  art.  The  time  and  place  of  his  death  were 
for  a  long  time  unknown  to  his  biographers,  but  Dr.  Scheltema  has  at  last  satisfactorily 
proved,  from  the  registry  of  his  burial,  that  he  died  on  the  8th  of  October,  1669,  at 
Amsterdam,  and  was  buried  in  the  Westerkerk  of  that  city.  Beneath  this  registry  is  a 
statement  to  the  effect  that  "Catherina  Van  Wyck,  the  widow,  has  declared  that  she  has 
no  means  of  proving  that  her  children  had  anything  to  inherit  from  their  father,"  so 
that  it  is  clear  that  Rembrandt  must  have  married  again  aft°r  the  death  of  Saskia,  but 
when  is  not  known. 

We  find  pictures  by  Rembrandt  in  almost  every  gallery,  and  their  individuality  of 
style  is  so  marked  that  even  the  careless  lounger  soon  gets  to  know  them,  and  is  able 
to  affirm  "there  is  a  Rembrandt"  without  reference  to  the  catalogue.  Powerful  contrasts 
of  light  and  shade,  intense  gloom  lit  up  by  a  single  concentrated  beam  of  light,  making 
"darkness  visible,"  these  are  the  chief  effects  that  Rembrandt  sought  after  and  repro- 
duced.     He  never  looked   at  nature    in    her   soft  twilight    moods,  but  loved    to    set   her 


•6* 


.U.1STERP/ECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


noonday  and  her  night  in  sudden  fierce  opposition.  It  is  only  by  degrees,  and  some- 
times after  long  contemplation,  that  objects  dawn  on  our  view  out  of  his  great  masses 
of  warm  shadow,  for  at  first,  as  in  nature,  our  eyes  are  too  dazzled  with  the  glory  of 
the   light   to   see   clearly.     This    is   especially  the   case  with    that   marvelous   picture   at 


f'rvm  Ik*  original. 


VAN    OSTADE    IN    HIS    STUDIO 


ky  Vam  OsUd*. 


Amsterdam,  called  "The  Night- Watch."  which  we  engrave  on  page  153,  the  most  celebrated, 
perhaps,  of  all  his  works.  What  this  picture  is  meant  to  represent  no  one  has  been  able 
to  define.  The  scene  is  a  daylight  one,  although  for  some  unaccountable  reason  called 
"The  Night-Watch,"  and  apparently  depicts  a  company  of  arquebussiers  going  forth  to 


OUT 


THE      MARRIAGE      OF     S?      CATHERINE 


FROM    THE    PICTURE    IN   THE    ROYAL    COLLECTION. 


GEBBIE   8c   BARRIE 


THE   NETHERLANDS. 


165 


shoot  at  a  mark.     A  young  girl  in  strange  festal  attire  is  in  the  midst  of  them  with  a 
fowl,  supposed  to  be  meant  as  a  prize  for  the  victor,  attached  to  her  belt.     Such  is  the 


From  the  original. 


THE  WATERFALL. 


by  y.  Ruysdale. 


literal    prosaic    interpretation    of    this    painting,    but   whoever    has    eyes    to   see   it   will 
perceive  that  this  extraordinary  production  is  lifted  far  above  the  prosaic  by  the  golden 


166  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


radiance  that  (alls  upon  it.  We  know  not,  indeed,  the  meaning  of  the  picture,  but  we 
fed  in  looking  at  it  that  we  are  in  the  presence  not  of  the  vulgar  portrayer  of  Dutch 
marksmen,  but  of  the  "King  of  Shadows"  and  Prince  of  Light.  "The  Night- Watch" 
was  executed  in  1642,  in  the  full  maturity  of  the  artist's  powers;  but  ten  years  before 
this  he  had  already  achieved  a  high  position  amongst  artists  by  his  powerful  "Anatomy 
Lesson,"  a  picture  now  at  the  Hague,  in  which  all  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  his 
style  are  strikingly  displayed.  Many  of  his  works,  both  painted  and  etched,  are  por- 
traits, and  if  we  accept  Ruskin's  dictum  that  "the  highest  thing  art  can  do  is  to  set 
before  you  the  true  image  of  a  noble  human  being,"  then,  surely,  Rembrandt  has  done 
the  very  highest  of  which  art  is  capable.  Every  one  knows  his  old  men's  and  old 
women's  heads,  in  which  not  only  every  wrinkle  and  every  shade  is  faithfully  depicted, 
but  every  care,  every  sorrow,  and  every  joy  of  the  sitter's  life  is  expressed.  His  por- 
traits, in  fact,  like  Titian's  and  all  truly  great  portraits,  are,  strictly  speaking,  biographies, 
and  we  learn  more  of  those  impassable,  shrewd  old  Dutchmen  from  them  than  from 
many  elaborate  histories.  His  landscapes  express  the  poetry  of  northern  scenery,  for 
the  north  has  a  poetry  of  its  own,  however  much  the  worshippers  of  Claude's  sunny 
skies  may  despise  it;  but  study  Rembrandt's  well-known  etching  of  "The  Three  Trees" 
for  half  an  hour  in  silence,  and  the  poetry  of  the  flat,  dull  Netherland  landscape  will 
dawn  even  on  minds  educated  to  behold  no  beauty  out  of  Italy.  His  etched  landscapes, 
in  fact  his  etchings  generally,  reveal  the  peculiarity  of  his  genius  still  more  strikingly 
than  his  paintings.  They  were  not  only  conceived,  but  executed  in  a  manner  of  his 
own,  the  secret  of  which  no  one  has  since  been  able  to  discover.  His  prints  are  now 
the  prized  treasures  of  collectors,  and  fabulous  sums  are  given  for  early  impressions. 

Gerard  1><>i  (161 3-1 675)  worked  for  three  years,  we  are  told,  in  Rembrandt's 
school,  and  no  doubt  acquired  his  accurate  knowledge  of  chiaroscuro  there,  but  he 
cannot,  strictly  speaking,  be  classed  as  a  follower  of  Rembrandt,  for  he  struck  out  the 
"little"  line  for  himself,  and  was  faithfully  followed  in  it  by  several  pupils  and  imitators. 
He  painted  portraits  with  great  skill,  only  it  is  said  that  he  so  wearied  his  sitters  by 
the  time  he  required,  that  he  got  but  few  to  sit  to  him.  He  took  his  own  portrait, 
however,  many  times.  Perhaps  the  most  celebrated  of  all  his  works  is  the  painting 
known  as  "La  Femme  Hydropique."  in  the  Louvre.  A  lady  of  middle  age,  and  appa- 
rently the  prey  to  some  dreadful  disease,  leans  back  on  a  chair  by  a  window,  her 
daughter  kneeling  beside  her  in  hopeless  grief.  A  physician  stands  by  examining  the 
contents  of  a  bottle,  on  which,  possibly,  his  verdict  of  life  or  death  depends.  Every 
accessory  is,  of  course,  painted  with  tin-  minutest  accuracy 

"The  Prince  of  his  scholars,"  as  Gerard  Don  called  him,  was  Frans  Mieris  (1635- 
1 68 1 ).     He,  indeed,  excelled  even  his  master  in  the  minutiae  of  his  painting,  and  nothing 


atfl 


< 


© 
© 


< 


B 
M 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  167 


can  be  more  perfect  than  some  of  his  little  cabinet  pictures.  This  class  of  Dutch  genre 
painters  seem,  in  fact,  to  have  had  every  faculty  of  great  artists.  Good  Dutch  house- 
wives bargaining  for  poultry  in  the  market-place,  or  plucking  their  winged  purchases  in 
the  kitchen ;  stolid  boors  drinking  outside  or  inside  a  tavern ;  buxom  damsels  in  rich 
satin  dresses  talking  to  foolish  cavaliers,  or  having  music-lessons,  or  sitting  for  their 
portraits,  or  partaking  of  elegant  refreshments  offered  by  little  footboys  on  silver  salvers ; 
children  blowing  soap-bubbles ;  such  were  the  favorite  themes  of  these  men.  The 
cheerful  character  of  their  works  is  another  of  their  distinguishing  features.  We  never 
find  anything  like  gloom  in  a  Dutch  genre  painter.  Life  to  him  was  simply  a  time  to 
eat,  drink  and  be  merry,  to  marry  and  be  given  in  marriage,  to  lay  up  corn  in  barns, 
and  in  fact  to  make  the  most  of  present  enjoyment,  it  being  quite  uncertain  what  comes 
next.  Frans  Van  Mieris  has  this  happy  carelessness  to  the  full.  His  pictures  are  full 
of  good  humor  and  self-satisfaction,  and  we  have  in  them,  at  all  events,  a  most  skilful 
delineation  of  furniture  and  ornamental  accessories.  "The  quality  of  his  stuffs,"  says  a 
critic  appreciative  of  this  kind  of  work,  "is  distinctly  defined,  and  no  representation  can 
surpass  in  truth  the  beauty  of  his  silks,  satins  and  velvets." 

But  by  far  the  greatest  painter  of  silks,  satins  and  velvets  was  Gerard  Terburg 
( 1 608-1 681).  Terburg  is  pre-eminently  the  painter  of  white  satin!  The  glossy  folds 
of  a  lady's  rich  dress  he  reproduced  with  a  comprehension  of  their  soft  texture,  and  an 
appreciation  of  the  degrees  of  light  and  shade  that  fell  upon  them,  that  have  never 
been  equaled  in  art. 

Gabriel  Metsu  (161 5,  living  in  1667)  is  a  painter  of  exactly  the  same  taste.  "His 
subjects  generally,"  says  a  commentator,  "are  of  the  genteel  and  decorous  order,"  but 
he  was  not  so  uniformly  "genteel"  as  Terburg,  and  often  painted  the  market  and  kitchen 
scenes  of  more  homely  life.  Occasionally,  indeed,  we  have  a  touch  of  humor  in  his 
works. 

Jan  Steen  (1626-1679)  is  another  original  genius  amongst  the  Dutch  genre  painters. 
He  is  a  thoroughly  sympathetic  artist,  and  enters  into  the  broad  fun  of  the  scenes  he 
depicts  with  keen  appreciation  and  enjoyment.  In  one  of  his  most  celebrated  pictures 
he  has  set  forth  the  pleasures  of  oyster-eating.  The  painting  is  called,  it  is  true,  "A 
Representation  of  Human  Life,"  but  it  is  really  nothing  more  than  a  large  oyster-party. 
About  twenty  persons  of  different  ages,  varying  from  infancy  to  old  age,  are  engaged 
simply  in  opening  and  eating  oysters.  The  subject  is  raised  above  vulgarity  by  its 
whimsical  contrasts,  its  humorous  expression,  its  effective  chiaroscuro,  and  its  wonderful 
execution.  It  is  now  in  the  Gallery  at  the  Hague.  "The  Effects  of  Intemperance," 
before  mentioned,  is  likewise  a  remarkable  work.  In  it  the  artist  has  positively  intro- 
duced portraits  of  himself  and  his  wife,  as  pointing   the  moral  of  the  scene.      Both  are 


1 68 


MASTERPIECES  OF   EUROPEAN  ARE 


depicted  in  drunken  slumber  after  the  enjoyments  of  a  feast  The  confusion  that  reigns 
around  them  is  supreme  One  of  the  children,  who  are  playing  about,  is  picking  the 
pocket  of  her  unconscious  mother,  another  is  smashing  wine-glasses,  a  dog  upon  the 
table  is  devouring  the  remains  of  a  pasty,  a  monkey  has  possessed  himself  of  some 
parchment  deeds,  whilst  a  servant  in  the  background  is  stealing  some  money-bags,  and 
a  cat  kno<ks  down  the  china. 


h'rtm  Ik*  eriftmjl. 


THE    COMING    STORM. 


ty  W.  Vandntldt. 


Jan  Steen  does  not  seem  to  have  had  any  direct  followers;  indeed,  it  is  a  charac- 
teristic of  these  Dutchmen  that,  although  they  all  more  or  less  excel  in  the  same 
qualities — namely,  admirable  color,  effective  chiaroscuro,  truth  to  nature,  and  unrivaled 
execution — yet  they  are  nearly  all  independent  artists.  We  have  at  least  no  blind 
following  of  a  particular  artist  or  particular  rules,  as  was  the  case  in  Italy  at  this  period. 

n  Rembrandt,  as  we  have  seen,  failed  to  impress  his  mark  on  more  than  a  few 
followrs,  and  although  the  little  masters  are  closely  united  in  style,  it  is  a  union  of 
equality,  and  not  of  servile  imitation. 


■ 


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THE   NETHERLANDS. 


i6g 


Adrian  Van  Ostade  (i 610-1685)  was  a  German  by  birth,  but  he  belongs  so  entirely 
to  the  Dutch  school  in  character  and  sentiment  that  he  is  always  classed  amongst  its 
masters.  He  likewise  painted  scenes  from  peasant  life,  but  he  chose  the  serious  side 
of  that  life,  and  represented  his  peasants  in  all  the  stern  reality  of  suffering,  poverty 
and  want.  His  children  are  always  the  most  melancholy  specimens  of  aged  childhood, 
with  a  premature  expression  of  anxiety,  such  as  we  often  see,  alas !  in  the  forced  childish 
growth  of  a  London  alley.  Charles  Blanc  characterizes  Ostade  as  "un  Rembrandt  familier 
et  un  Teniers  serieux,"  and  it  is  true  that  he  does  unite,  to  a  certain  extent,  several  of 


From  the  original, 


MILKING    TIME. 


by  N.  Van  Berghem. 


the  qualities  of  these  masters ;  in  the  management  of  light  and  shade,  especially,  he 
gained  much  from  Rembrandt.  He  had  a  curious  predilection  for  ugly  people,  a  pretty 
face  being  seldom  seen  in  any  of  his  paintings. 

The  Landscape  Painters  of  Holland  have  met  with  unbounded  praise;  or  unbounded 
abuse,  according  to  the  particular  views  that  their  critics  happened  to  hold. 

Jan  Van  Goyen  (1595-1656),  and  Jan  Wynants  (1600,  living  in  1677),  are  important 
not  so  much  from  their  own  merits,  though  they  are  not  artists  to  be  overlooked,  as 
from  their  having  been  the  first  painters  of  genuine  Dutch  landscape,  a  line  in  which 
they  were  followed  by  several  greater  men.  These  may  be  divided  into  painters  of 
landscape  with  cattle,  and  painters  of  landscape  without  cattle. 


I70  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Pail  Piter  (1625-1654)  is  pre-eminently  the  painter  of  the  herd.  He  has  been 
called  the  Raphael  of  animal-painting,  but  this  title  is  singularly  inappropriate,  for  he 
did  not  in  any  way  idealize  bovine  beauty,  but  painted  it  with  a  truth  of  detail  which 
only  a  connoisseur  of  prize  oxen  can  fully  appreciate.  His  genius  for  these  subjects 
was  very  early  developed  At  die  age  of  fourteen,  we  are  told,  his  paintings  already 
ranked  with  Uiose  of  famed  and  experienced  masters,  and  they  have  gone  on  increasing 
in  market-value  ever  since.  His  most  celebrated  work  is  "The  Young  Bull,"  of  the 
Hague,  painted  when  he  was  only  twenty-two.  It  certainly  is  a  wonderful  painting  as 
regards  size  and  fidelity  to  nature. 

Paul  Potter,  it  is  said,  took  the  greatest  pains  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the 
character  of  the  animals  he  loved  to  paint,  and  never  went  out  without  observing  and 
recording  some  significant  trait  or  action  of  ox,  cow  or  sheep.  He  seems,  in  fact,  to 
have  entered  into  the  heart  of  his  kine,  if  such  could  be,  so  thorough  is  his  under- 
standing of  their  natures. 

Albert  Cuyp  (1606.  about  1672)  is  not  merely  a  cattle-painter,  like  Paul  Potter, 
although  he  loved  to  introduce  cattle  into  his  landscapes.  With  the  latter,  the  landscape 
(always  carefully  and  faithfully  painted)  simply  forms  the  background  to  his  catde; 
whereas,  with  Cuyp,  the  cattle  are  but  one  of  the  varied  features  of  the  scene.  He 
has  been  called  the  Dutch  Claude,  and  truly  the  great  difference  between  the  landscapes 
of  these  two  painters  lies  in  the  different  latitudes  in  which  they  painted.  They  each 
loved  the  misty  air  of  the  hot  noonday  and  the  golden  glow  of  the  afternoon  sun ;  but 
Cuyp's  sun  rose  and  set  over  the  low  fields  and  ditches  of  Holland,  whilst  Claude's 
gilded  the  mountains  or  sunk  into  the  blue  lakes  of  Italy.  The  country  round  Dor- 
tr< •(  lit.  the  river  Maas.  with  its  broad  expanse  of  water,  its  boats,  its  shipping,  and  the 
cattle  that  grazed  on  its  banks,  offered  him  quite  sufficient  subjects  for  his  art,  for  did 
not  the  golden  sun  shine  on  the  river  and  its  belongings,  and  sometimes  even,  when 
the  river  was  frozen,  on  its  clear  sheet  of  ice?  True,  it  was  a  Dutch  sun;  but  was 
not  its  light  sufficient  to  gladden  a  patriotic  painter's  heart  and  to  enable  him  to  repro- 
duce its  effects  on  his  canvas?  We  find  the  answer  in  Cuyp's  pictures.  No  painter 
has  ever  expressed  the  peculiar  warm,  misty  air  of  a  summer's  afternoon  with  greater 
truth. 

Philip  Wouwerman  (1620-1668)  is  a  painter  who  has  had  an  immense  reputation 
in  his  tinv.  but  his  day  seems  now  to  have  passed.  Ruskin  derides  him  most  unmer- 
cifully, and  several  other  critics  have  followed  his  example.  His  pictures  are,  perhaps, 
the  most  curious  compounds  of  incongruous  ingredients  that  have  ever  been  painted. 
He  arranges  the  features  of  a  landscape  according  to  a  pattern  of  his  own,  and  then 
sets  in  it  cavaliers,  horst  -.  cattle,  hunting-parties,  military  skirmishes,  blacksmiths 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  171 


forges,  village  inns,  or  classic  temples  as  it  suits  him ;  very  often,  indeed,  he  treats  us 
to  two  or  three  of  these  episodes  in  the  same  landscape  or  "nonsense  picture,"  as  this 
sort  of  work  has  been  appropriately  called. 

We  should  remember,  however,  in  criticising  Wouwerman,  that  probably  only  about 
one-eighth  part  of  the  pictures  assigned  to  him  are  really  by  his  hand.  No  artist, 
except  perhaps  Holbein,  has  suffered  more  in  this  respect  than  Wouwerman.  As  a 
rule,  every  Dutch  painting  that  has  a  white  horse  in  it  is  set  down  to  him,  he  having 
been  apparently  as  fond  of  white  horses  as  Terburg  of  white  satin ;  but  Pieter  and  Jan 
Wouwerman,  his  brothers,  painted  similar  subjects,  and  many  of  the  white  horses  may 
be  theirs.  Jan  Van  Hugtenburg,  also,  is  another  painter  whose  works  Wornum  con- 
siders have  been  taken  by  dealers  to  swell  their  lists  of  Wouwermans. 

Jacob  Ruysdael,  or  Van  Ruisdael  (about  1 625-1 681),  is  a  genuine  painter  of  land- 
scape— of  landscape  pure  and  simple,  without  accessories  of  cattle  or  horses.  His 
landscapes  are  somewhat  melancholy  in  character — deep  pools  overshadowed  by  trees, 
water-mills,  waterfalls,  and  ever-clouded  skies ;  but  their  melancholy  is  tinged  with 
poetry,  and  seldom  becomes  oppressive.  He  was  fond  of  dark  masses  of  foliage,  and 
thus  the  prevailing  color  of  his  works  is  dark  green. 

Minderhout  Hobbema  (1638,  living  in  1669)  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  pupil  of 
Ruysdael,  or  possibly  of  Solomon  Ruysdael,  Jacob's  brother,  who  was  likewise  an  artist. 
He  painted  very  much  in  the  same  style  as  Ruysdael,  and  chose  the  same  subjects — 
green  trees,  water  and  clouds,  with  beautiful  effects  of  light  falling  upon  them,  but  his 
works  give  evidence  of  a  more  cheerful  mind  than  Ruysdael's.  He  often  painted 
nature,  it  is  true,  in  her  melancholy  mood,  but  he  did  not  infuse  any  subjective  gloom 
into  his  scenes,  as  Ruysdael  and  several  English  landscape  painters  have  done.  Gener- 
ally, however,  he  chose  happy  sunny  scenes.  Hobbema's  works  are  rare,  and  enormous 
sums  have  been  given  for  them. 

Next  come  the  Sea  Painters  of  Holland,  the  De  Ruyters  and  Van  Tromps  of  the 
palette. 

Willem  Vandevelde  the  Younger  (1633,  died  in  London,  1707)  stands  first  amongst 
these  heroes,  although  his  father,  Willem  Vandevelde  the  Elder,  was  a  much-esteemed 
painter  in  his  day,  especially  in  England,  where  he  had  a  pension  granted  him  by 
Charles  II,  of  ,£100  a  year,  "for  taking  and  making  draughts  of  sea-fights."  The  same 
pension  was  afterwards  given  to  his  son,  who  in  a  true  cosmopolitan  spirit  painted  first 
(when  he  was  in  Holland),  the  victories  of  the  Dutch  over  the  English,  and  afterwards 
(when  he  went  to  England),  the  victories  of  the  English  over  the  Dutch.  He  has  given 
us  the  sea  in  most  of  its  moods — storm  and  calm,  wind  and  rain,  dashing  waves  and 
gentle  ripples. 


172 


MASTERPIECES    Of  EUROPEAN   ART 


L*  DOI  t  Bv  khuvsi  N  ( 1031-1709).  Charies  Blanc  characterises  the  difference  between 
Vandeveldes  seas  and  Backhuysen's,  by  savin-  that  "Backhuysen  makes  us  fear  the  sea, 
whilst  Vandeveldc  makes  us  love  it."  Some  minds,  therefore,  it  is  evident,  must  be 
affected  by  Backhuysen's  leaden  skies  and  opaque  seas,  for  here  we  have  an  excellent 
critic  praising  them  lor  the  very  qualities  in  which  to  others  they  seem  lacking,  showing 


from  Uu  triftaaJ, 


SAMSON    AND    DELILAH. 


tyA.  Vender  Htrf. 


how  the  same  work  may  produce  a  totally  different  effect  on  different  minds.  Back- 
huysen  was  a  painter  of  ships,  even  more  than  of  seas;  he  had,  indeed,  a  practical 
knowledge  of  all  nautical  matters,  and  is  said  to  have  made  constructive  drawings  of 
ships  for  Peter  the  Great 

Nicolas  Bkm  hkm,  Karki.  DU  Jakdin.  and  Jan  Both  are  all  three  painters  of  high 
reputation:  but  although  undoubted  Dutchmen  by  birth  and  natural  tastes,  they  can 
scarcely  be  reckoned  as  belonging  to  the  Dutch   school.      It  was   not  merely  that   they 


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THE   NETHERLANDS. 


*73 


painted  Italian  landscapes  instead  of  Dutch  ones ;  this  they  could  have  done,  and  yet 
have  remained  true  to  their  own  nationality.  We  do  not  call  John  Phillip  a  Spanish 
painter  because  he  painted  Spanish  scenes,  nor  Turner  an  Italian  because  of  his  brilliant 
skies,  but  the  Italianizers  of  Flanders  and    Holland  only  painted   Italian  nature  as  they 


From  the  original. 


FRUIT. 


by  Van  Huysum. 


saw  it  in  Italian  pictures,  not  as  they  saw  it  for  themselves.  It  was  the  art^  of  Italy, 
and  not  the  nature,  that  they  imitated,  and  so  they  produced  a  bastard  style  of  painting 
which  neither  the  Netherlands  nor  Italy  can  own.  This  style  is  the  more  to  be  deplored, 
as   these   masters    were    really  excellent    painters,   who    might    have   produced    charming 


1 74 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


works  had  they  but  retained  their  nationality.  Several  masters  of  inferior  merit  followed 
to  the  south  these  three  leading  ones.  Their  landscapes  usually  are  sprinkled  over 
with  classic  temples  and  pastoral  figures,  and  are  utterly  vacuous,  having  lost  the  true 
Dutch  merits  of  effective  coloring  and  careful  execution. 

Adrian  Vander  Werff  (1659-1722)  is  about  the  strongest  instance  of  Dutch 
Italianization.  He  was  not  a  landscape  painter,  but  dealt  with  mythological  and  biblical 
subjects,  and  especially  delighted  in  the  nude.  At  the  Pinakothek,  at  Munich,  there  is 
a  whole  cabinet  devoted  to  this  painter's  works,  besides  others  scattered  through  the 
gallery.  Many  of  these,  it  is  true,  have  great  elegance  and  beauty.  His  female  figures, 
in  particular,  are  often  pretty,  and  exhibit  animation  and  intelligence.  He  had  also 
considerable  power  of  invention,  and    thought  is  by  no  means  wanting  in  his  paintings. 

ral  of  his  genre  pictures  with  biblical  names,  such,  for  instance,  as  "Sarah  bringing 
Hagar  to  Abraham."  have  decidedly  attractive  features,  and  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  to 
find  that  "they  were  so  highly  admired  by  princes  and  men  of  fortune  that  he  found  it 
impossible  to  execute  all  the  commissions  given  to  him." 

While  one  class  of  Dutch  painters  was  thus  seeking  to  ennoble  and  beautify  the 
honest  bourgeois  art  of  Holland  by  the  introduction  of  a  foreign  element,  another  class 
was  dragging  the  native  style  down  to  utter  worthlessness  by  employing  it  on  the 
meanest  and  most  trivial  subjects.  The  Dutch  painters  of  fruit,  flowers,  still  life,  and 
crockery  form  a  large  group  by  themselves,  amongst  which  are  several  meritorious 
masters. 

Wii.t.KM  Kalf's  kitchen-pieces  are  unequalled  in  their  way;  Jan.Weenix  bestows 
on  his  dead  game  an  execution  worthy,  at  least,  to  have  been  expended  on  living  birds; 
and  Van   Huysum  offers  us  fruit  that  makes  our  mouths  water. 

In  considering  the  present  character  and  condition  of  the  art  of  painting  as  exhibited 
in  the  works  of  the  principal  modern  artists  of  Holland,  we  see  a  field  differing  distinct- 
ively from  the  modern  German  painters.  Deriving  their  life  from  a  common  origin, 
each  has  at  length  taken  a  path  so  opposite  to  the  other,  that  no  two  schools  could 
scarcely  be  more  widely  separated.  The  affinity  which  in  early  years  existed  between 
them  is  seen,  on  the  side  of  Germany,  in  the  works  of  Meisters  Wilhelm  and  Stephen, 
both  of  Cologne;  Martin  Schoen,  of  Ulm ;  Albert  Diirer,  of  Nuremberg;  Lucas  Cranach, 
of  Cranach,  and  others;  on  the  side  of  the  Low  Countries,  or  the  Netherlands,  in  the 
works  of  the  brothers  Van  Eyck,  of  Bruges;  Memling,  also  of  Bruges;  Lucas  Van 
Leyden,  of  Leyden;  Mabuse,  of  Hainault;  Quinten  Matsys,  of  Antwerp,  and  others. 
The  line  of  demarcation  now  drawn  between  them  is  apparent  enough.  So  long  as 
Holland  and  Handera  were  united  under  one  form  of  government,  the  artists  of  the  two 
countries  were  classed  together,  and   have  been  so  classed   in  the  preceding  pages,  but 


THE   NETHERLANDS.  175 


since  Belgium  became  an  independent  kingdom,  the  art  interests  of  the  country  have 
been  distinctly  separated  from  those  of  her  Dutch  neighbor.  The  Belgic  school  being 
most  closely  allied  to  the  French,  it  will  be  treated  of  with  the  gems  of  that  school,  and 
we  shall  devote  the  little  remaining  space  at  our  disposal  to  a  few  of  the  masters  of 
modern  Netherlands  art. 

When  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  royal  accession  of  the  king  of  Holland 
occurred  in  1874,  a  fete  at  the  Hague  was  held,  and  the  chief  artists  presented  to  the 
king  one  hundred  pictures,  all  the  works  of  the  artists  themselves ;  seven  proof- 
engravings,  sixteen  medals,  a  portfolio  of  water-color  drawings,  photographs,  and  an 
album  containing  the  names  of  the  contributors.  The  annals  of  art  tell  of  few  more 
pleasing  incidents  than  this,  and  it  also  tells  that  Holland  teems  with  artistic  life.  Nearly 
all  the  chief  painters  of  Holland  are  well  known  in  this  country  by  their  works. 
Repeated  examples  of  Mesdag,  Heemskerk,  Israels,  Bisschop,  Ronner,  te  Gempt,  and 
ten  Kate  may  be  found  in  nearly  all  public  galleries,  and  few  private  galleries  are  satis- 
factory collections  without  examples  of  some  of  these  artists'  works. 

P.  Van  Schendel  is  a  native  of  Breda,  where  he  was  born  in  1806.  His  most 
celebrated  picture  is  a  "Birth  of  Christ,"  which  was  exhibited  in  London  several  years 
ago.  It  is  a  carefully  executed  subject,  and  admirable  in  its  composition.  The  assem- 
blage of  angels,  rendered  as  the  transparent  shadowy  forms  of  children  hovering  over 
the  manger,  is  peculiarly  impressive,  and  passes  at  once  through  the  eye  to  the  heart. 
The  manner  in  which  the  main  light  is  generated  and  carried  through  the  picture, 
mingling  gradually  with  the  secondary  glare  of  a  torch,  and  breaking  up  the  darkness 
of  the  beams  and  walls,  is  a  perfect  study.  The  young  female  with  folded  hands,  in  the 
centre  of  the  principal  group,  and  looking  out  of  the  picture,  is  a  faultless  rendering 
of  beauty  spiritualized  by  veneration  and  awe,  and  the  refined  treatment  and  exquisite 
finish  of  every  part  concur  in  making  this  a  most  desirable  painting.  The  writer  once 
visited  him  in  his  atelier,  and  found  it  arranged  in  such  a  manner  that  enabled  Van 
Schendel  to  work,  when  the  subject  on  which  he  was  engaged  required  it,  with  the  light 
of  day  on  his  canvas,  while  another  portion  of  the  room,  illumined  by  a  lamp,  served 
him  for  studying  "effects." 

Mr.  Van  Eltner,  a  native  of  Holland,  has  established  himself  in  New  York,  and 
Laurens  Alma  Tadema,  a  native  of  Friesland,  has  established  himself  in  London,  where 
he  has  become  naturalized  and  earned  a  reputation  for  color  and  correct  archaeological 
knowledge,  which  he  makes  considerable  use  of  in  his  art.  This  may  be  seen  in 
the  "Pastime  in  Ancient  Egypt,"  of  which  we  give  an  illustration  on  steel.  The 
fragments  of  pictorial  art,  gathered  from  the  remains  of  ancient  Egypt,  which  we 
bind  in  books,  are  but  crude  and   imperfect    representations,  viewed   artistically,  truthful 


176 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


as  they  may  be,  with  reference  to  facts,  of  the  persons  and  scenes  they  embody;  but 
such  pictures  as  M.  Alma  Tadema  sets  before  us  reveal,  by  the  light  of  modern  art, 
what  may  be  regarded  as  realities.  The  picture  was  originally  called  "Three  Thousand 
Vean  Ago."  It  was  sent  to  several  exhibitions,  where  it  obtained  gold  and  other  medals. 
It  is  intended  to  represent  an  entertainment  given  in  honor  of  a  Nubian  ambassador, 
who  is  seated  in  front,  and  to  whom  an  Egyptian  slave  is  offering  some  beverage  in  a 
cup ;  on  his  right,  amidst  a  group  of  young  people,  is  the  host,  a  priest,  named  Phtames, 
the  scribe  of  the  great  house  of  the  god  Phta,  at  Memphis,  whose  name  appears  on  the 
furniture  and  walls ;  and  behind  the  priest,  a  little  to  his  right  hand,  is  his  standard-bearer. 
The  name  of  the  priest  is  taken  from  the  column  of  his  tomb,  now  in  the  museum  of 
Leyden.  The  other  leading  figures  in  the  composition — musicians  and  dancers — speak 
for  themselves.  The  presence  of  the  mummy  in  the  background,  on  the  extreme  right, 
invites  the  company  to  be  merry,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
We  may  imagine  it  would  have  a  very  different  effect  at  an  American  entertainment. 
The  architecture  was  studied  from  the  temple  at  Gerf-Horfeyn  and  others;  the  harp  is 
copied  from  one  in  the  Louvre,  and  the  chair  in  front  from  one  in  the  British  Museum. 
The  wall-painting  in  the  background  represents  Phtames  praying  to  his  ancestors,  an 
episode  suggested  by  a  representation  of  Thotmes  I,  in  his  room  of  ancestors,  in  the 
National  Library,  Paris. 


1=1 


^ 


H 
< 


jPANISH  ART,  while  second  only  in  originality  and  importance  to  that 
of  Italy,  ranks,  in  point  of  date,  next  after  the  Italian,  Flemish  and 
German  schools.  Some  writers  tell  us  that  Toledo  was  the  cradle 
of  Spanish  art,  fostered  by  the  wealthy  churchmen  of  the  metro- 
politan cathedral.  Others  say  that  Barcelona  and  Saragossa,  from 
their  early  connection  with  Italy,  through  commerce,  were  the  first 
places  in  the  peninsula  to  feel  the  influence  of  that  country  in  taste  for  art. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  earliest  beginnings  of  painting  in  Spain,  after 
the  Gothic  conventionalities  were  dropped,  the  history  of  its  art  practically 
resolves  itself  into  three  divisions  relating  to  as  many  chief  centres  or  schools.  There 
was  the  school  of  Castile,  originating  at  Toledo,  at  some  imperfectly  ascertained  date  in 
the  fifteenth  century.  As  Madrid  grew  in  importance,  under  Philip  II  and  his  successors, 
Toledo  was  superseded,  as  the  art-centre,  just  as  Valladolid  had  ceased  to  be  the  political 
capital ;  and  Madrid  thenceforth  gave  its  name  to  the  school  of  Castile.  Then  the  school 
of  Andalusia,  with  its  centre  at  Seville,  entered  into  rivalry  with  the  other,  both  in  the 
matter  of  its  antiquity  and  of  the  eminence  of  its  painters.  "The  beautiful  terra 
Bcetua,"  says  Sir  W.  Stirling-Maxwell,  "was  prolific  of  genius.  The  country  of  Lucan, 
of  Seneca,  of  Trajan,  and  of  Averroes  brought  forth  Vargas,  Velasquez  and  Murillo." 
The  earliest  painter  of  note  belonging  to  Andalusia  is  Juan  Sanchez  de  Castro.  He  is 
found,  in  1454,  at  work  on  a  retablo,  or  altar-piece,  in  St.  Joseph's  chapel,  Seville 
Cathedral,  and  some  thirty  years  later  he  executed  some  works  in  St.  Julian's  church  in 
the  same  city.     He  is  known  to  have  been  alive  in   151 6. 

Valencia  gives  its  name  to  the  third  principal    school  of  Spain,  which    took  its  rise 
from   two  foreign  artists ;    their  nationality  is  disputed,  but  they  executed  some  important 


177 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


decorative  work  in  the  cathedral,  near  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  school 
of  Castile,  also,  on  several  occasions  was  indebted  to  the  visits  of  artists  from  Flanders 
ami  Italy.  It  remains  a  matter  undecided  whether  Titian  actually  visited  Charles  V  in 
Spain,  or  whether  their  frequent  intercourse  took  place  only  at  Bologna  and  other  cities 
of  Italy.  Certain  it  is  that  the  intimate  connection  maintained  during  the  reign  of  the 
Hmperor,  and  that  of  his  son  Philip,  between  Spain  and  Italy,  introduced  many  works 
of  the  Italian  masters  into  the  Peninsula,  examples  of  which,  at  this  day,  adorn  the 
National  Museum  at  Madrid.  Such  were  the  chief  schools,  or  art-centres  of  Spain. 
They  l»ad  this  in  common,  that  they  were  all  of  them,  more  or  less,  connected  with  the 
art  traditions  of  Italy,  and  all  were  alike  distinguished  by  their  severely  devotional 
character. 

Antonio  Rincon,  often  cited  as  the  founder  of  the  Castilian  school,  was  court- 
painter  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  resided  chiefly  at  Toledo.  He  was  born  at 
<  iuadalajara,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  His  portraits  of  Isabella  "the 
Catholic"  and  her  husband  long  adorned  the  church  of  San  Juan,  Toledo,  but  have  never 
been  seen  since  the  French  invasion.  Similar  portraits,  said  to  be  copies  of  those,  now 
hang  in  the  royal  gallery  at  Madrid.  His  patrons,  the  chapter  of  Toledo,  gave  him 
several  commissions  in  the  cathedral.  He  was  decorated  with  the  order  of  Santiago  by 
his  royal  patrons,  and  died,  1500,  leaving  a  son,  Fernando,  a  good  fresco  painter. 

Liis  i>e  Vargas,  of  the  school  of  Seville,  began  the  study  of  painting  in  his  native 
city,  then  repaired  to  Italy,  and  passed  some  twenty-eight  years  there,  improving  him- 
self and  becoming  familiar  with  the  great  masters.  He  returned  to  Spain,  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  being  himself  about  fifty  years  of  age.  Several  of  his 
works  are  still  pointed  out  in  Seville  Cathedral.  His  admirable  picture  of  "The 
Nativity.'*  in  one  of  the  chapels,  was  executed  in  1555.  Another,  called,  from  one  of 
its  features,  "LaGamba,"  or  "The  Leg-Painting,"  represents  the  human  ancestors  of  the 
Redeemer  adoring  their  descendant,  as  He  lies  in  His  mother's  lap.  In  the  foreground 
is  the  foreshortened  leg  of  Adam,  to  which  the  picture  owes  its  name.  He  died  at 
Seville,  about  1568. 

It  is  related  of  Vargas,  not  only  that  he  frequently  used  the  discipline  of  the 
scourge,  but  Uiat  he  kept  a  coffin  in  his  house,  and  used  to  lie  down  in  it  from  time 
to  time,  to  meditate  on  death.  The  instruments  and  evidences  of  his  self-castigation 
and  torture  were  found  in  his  chamber  after  his  death.  Tradition  represents  the  painter 
as  a  man  of  modest  and  kindly  nature,  and  not  indisposed,  now  and  then,  to  have  his 
joke.     His  works  are  little  known  out  of  Spain. 

Luis  Morales,  surnamed  El  Divino,  from  the  intensely  devotional  character  of  his 
works,  is   sometimes   mentioned  as  the   single  master  of  the  school  of  Estremadura,  if 


LUIS    MORALES  JOTC 


MALLL'ETER.S: 


ECCE     HOI! 


■ 


B  *■  A  K 


XJHIVERSITT^ 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


179 


school  it  can  be  called.  "The  Circumcision,"  engraved  on  wood  on  this  page,  is  from 
the  original  in  the  Royal  Gallery  at  Madrid.  It  was  bought  at  the  Louis  Philippe 
sale  in  1853;  so  also  was  the  "Ecce  Homo,"  engraved  on  steel  by  M.  Mailleffer  for 
"this  work.  These  two  pictures  are  great  examples  of  the  divine  Morales'  manner. 
Born    about  1509,  he    studied  either  at  Toledo   or  Valladolid.      His    life  was   passed   in 


From  the  original. 


bv  Luis  Morales 


THE    CIRCUMCISION. 


painting  for  churches  and  private  oratories.  About  1654,  he  was  commanded  by  Philip  II 
to  execute  a  picture  for  his  newly-built  palace-monastery  of  the  Escurial.  Seventeen 
years  afterwards,  as  the  king  was  passing  through  Badajoz,  Morales  waited  upon  him. 
"You  are  very  old,  Morales,"  remarked  Philip.  "Yes,  sire,  and  very  poor,"  was  the 
reply.  On  which,  the  king  desired  his  treasurer  to  pay  the  artist  a  pension  of  two 
hundred  ducats  "for  his  dinner."     "And  for  supper,  sire?"  rejoined  the  old  man — a  word 


i8o  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


of  repartee  which  gained  him  another  hundred  ducats,  as  the  story  goes.  He  died  at 
Hadajoz,  1586.  Morales  was  never  out  of  Spain,  yet  he  managed  to  clothe  his  devo- 
tional subjects  with  the  fit-ling  and  expression  associated  with  Italian  art,  and  more 
particularly  with  the  school  of  Rome.  The  elaborate  finish  of  his  pictures,  always  painted 
on  panel,  and  the  purity  and  grace  of  their  composition,  procured  for  Morales  the  title 
of  the  Parmegiano  of  Spain.  The  painter's  finest  works  were  formerly  preserved  in  his 
native  city,  but  the  French  pioneers  of  civilization  robbed  it  of  four  of  them,  and  time 
and  repainting  have  mined  the  rest. 

In  ever  so  cursnn*  a  review  of  early  Spanish  art,  place  must  be  found  for  the 
great  portrait-painter  of  Philip  II's  court — ALONZO  SANCHEZ  Coello.  Although  Portugal 
has  sometimes  been  named  as  his  native  country,  there  seems  little  doubt  that  he  was 
born  at  Valencia,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Neither  the  place  nor  manner  of  his 
studies  is  now  known ;  it  is,  however,  inferred,  from  his  leaving  behind  him  several 
careful  copies  of  Titian's  works,  that  he  formed  his  style  on  Italian  models.  Before  the 
middle  of  the  century,  he  is  found  settled  at  Madrid  with  his  wife.  Philip  II,  on  his 
accession,  showed  the  artist  distinguished  favor,  lodging  him  in  the  royal  palace,  and 
dropping  in.  every  now  and  then,  to  while  away  an  hour  in  his  company. 

Coello  painted  the  features  of  the  great  first  Jesuit,  Ignatius  Loyola,  not  from  life, 
but  from  wax  casts  taken  from  his  head  some  thirty  years  before,  aided  by  the  recol- 
lections of  Ribadeneyra,  the  hagiologist.  No  portrait  was  ever  taken  of  Loyola  during 
life,  not  even  that  striking  one  which  hangs  in  San  Miguel's  church,  Seville. 

Francisco  de  Ribalta,  a  master  of  the  Valencia  school,  has  a  little  romance  con- 
nected  with  his  story.  While  studying  art  at  Valencia,  he  fell  in  love  with  his  master's 
daughter.     Her  father  thought  too  little  of  his   pupil's  self-supporting  skill  as  a  painter 

onsent  to  their  union.  The  daughter,  however,  agreed  to  wait  till  the  young  man 
should  perfect  himself  in  Italy.  He  accordingly  started  for  Rome,  and  labored  diligently 
before  the  works  of  Raphael  and  the  Carracci.  In  four  years  or  so  he  ventured  back 
to  Valencia,  and  reaching  the  house  of  the  lady,  at  a  moment  when  her  father  was  not 
at  home,  |»-  put  the  last  touches  to  a  painting  he  found  on  the  easel,  and  disappeared. 
The  father,  returning,  was  so  much  pleased  with  what  had  been  done,  as  the  story  runs, 
that  he  declared  the  youth  who  had  touched  the  picture  should  be  his  son-in-law,  and 
not  that  bungler,  Ribalta.  It  is  the  story  of  Quentin  Matsys  over  again.  Whether  true 
in  all  particulars  or  not,  the  subsequent  narrative  of  Ribalta's  life  was  in  every  respect 
conformable  to  this  beginning.  He  entered  on  a  course  of  diligent  work  and  uninter- 
rupted success.  His  pictures  were  nearly  all  of  a  sacred  character;  they  are  very 
numerous,  especially  in  the  city  and  province  of  his  native  Valencia.  The  College  of 
Corpus   Christi.  Valencia,   is   said   to   be   a    "museum    of    Ribaltas."     We   engrave,   on 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


181 


this  page,  one  of  his  best  works,  now  in  the   National   Gallery  of  Madrid.     Ribalta  has 
been  termed  the  Domenichino  and  Sebastian  del  Piombo  of  Spain,  in  one.     His  career 


closed  in   1628,  when  he  was    between    seventy  and    eighty  years  of  age— for  the  exact 
year  of  his  birth  is  not  ascertained. 

There  is    not   a   more   curious    episode    in  the    history  of  art  than  the  story  of  the 
eccentric  painter,  El  Greco,  or  the  Greek.     His  real  name  was  Domenico  Theotocopuli ; 


18a  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


his  family  is  supposed  to  have  taken  refuge  in  Venice  at  the  time  when  Constantinople 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  Domcnico  was  born  probably  in  Venice,  about  the 
middle  of  tin-  sixteenth  century,  He  is  said  to  have  studied  in  Titian's  school ;  color 
was  the  passion  of  his  soul.  Michael  Angelo's  inferiority  as  a  colorist  provoked  the 
Greek  to  say.  on  one  occasion,  to  Pacheco,  who  records  it,  that  he  was  a  good  enough 
sort  of  man,  but  he  didn't  know  how  to  paint.  The  Greek  is  found  at  Toledo,  1577, 
engaged  in  painting  what  is  still  believed  his  masterpiece — "The  Stripping  of  Christ" — 
in  the  cathedral  sacristy.  The  Greek  next  received  a  commission  from  Philip  to  paint 
a  St.  Maurice  for  the  Escurial.  The  uncertain  powers  of  the  artist  here  showed  them- 
selves. The  finished  picture  fell  so  very  far  short  of  his  reputation,  and  indeed  of  what 
he  had  actually  achieved,  that  the  king  refused  to  admit  it  into  the  church,  although  he 
paid  die  stipulated  sum.  A  great  opportunity  was  thus  lost,  for  Philip  was  not  the  man 
to  give  another  chance.  The  painter,  however,  at  eccentric  intervals,  produced  excellent 
works,  especially  in  portraits.  The  Louvre  possesses  two  of  the  best,  representing  the 
painter  himself,  and  his  beautiful  daughter.  The  latter  is  engraved  on  the  next  page.  "Her 
countenance,"  says  Stirling-Maxwell,  "in  depicting  which  her  fond  father  has  put  forth 
all  his  skill,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  that  death  ever  dimmed,  and  that  the  pencil 
ever  rescued  from  the  grave."  In  the  Louvre  may  be  seen  what  the  Greek  could  do 
in  one  of  his  mad  moments  of  incapacity,  the  subject  is  "The  Adoration  of  the 
Shepherds."  Yet,  when  at  his  best,  he  could  make  his  heads  stand  out  from  the  canvas 
like  Velasquez,  and  paint  flesh  and  draperies  so  as  to  make  one  think  of  Titian. 
Several  of  his  pupils  rank  high  in  the  Castilian  school.  In  sculpture  also,  and  archi- 
tecture, the  Greek  had  a  considerable  reputation.  He  died  at  Toledo,  1625,  regretted 
by  the  whole  city. 

Juan  db  las  Roelas,  surnamed  El  Clerigo,  or  the  ecclesiastic,  was  "a  very  great 
master,"  as  Mr.  Ford  remarks,  "although  much  less  known  and  appreciated  than  he 
deserves."  His  name,  in  fact,  is  hardly  known  out  of  Spain.  Seville  was  his  native 
city ;  his  family  was  illustrious.  His  style  has  induced  the  belief,  in  the  absence  of  all 
direct  proof,  that  he  studied  painting  at  Venice,  under  Tintoretto,  after  leaving  the 
university  of  Seville  with  the  degree  of  licentiate.  In  1 603,  being  then  upwards  of  forty 
years  of  age,  Roelas  was  appointed  to  a  prebend,  or  minor  canonry,  at  Olivarez,  a  small 
town  not  far  from  Seville.  Fol  many  subsequent  years,  the  painter  seems  to  have  been 
non-resident,  living  in  the  more  congenial  society  of  Seville  and  Madrid.  He  failed  to 
obtain  the  office  of  painter' to  the  king,  Philip  III,  but  remained  at  Madrid,  painting  for 
churches  and  convents,  as  also  at  Seville,  until  he  was  made  canon  of  Olivarez,  the 
year  before  his  death,  in  1625.  He  was  the  master  of  Zurburan,  whose  great  works 
are  now  better  known,  and  bear  the  impress  of  Roelas'  teaching. 


1 


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4f 


3= 

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r- 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


183 


We  have  noticed,  in  El  Greco,  an  instance  of  a  foreigner  identifying  himself  with 
Spanish  art;  we  have  now,  in  Josef  de  Ribera,  an  example  of  a  Spaniard  by  birth 
taking  his  place  in  the  Neapolitan  school  of  Italy.  Ribera,  better  known  by  his  Italian 
surname  of  II  Spagnoletto,  or  the  little  Spaniard,  was  a  native  of  Xativa,  or  San  Felipe, 
near  Valencia;  born  1588.  Ribalta  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  his  master;  but 
he    went    to    Italy    in    early    youth,    and    adopted    the   vigorous    and    naturalist    style  of 


From  the  original,  by  Domenico  Theotocopuli. 

THE   DAUGHTER    OF   EL    GRECO. 


Caravaggio.  At  first  very  poor,  he  owed  his  subsistence  to  the  charity  of  a  Roman 
cardinal.  When  he  had  made  good  progress  in  art,  he  removed  to  Naples,  out  of 
jealousy  of  Domenichino,  it  is  alleged.  There  he  married  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy 
dealer  in  pictures.  He  also  ingratiated  himself  with  successive  viceroys  of  Spain,  and 
was  made  their  court-painter,  with  a  fixed  salary.  Commissions  poured  in  upon  him ; 
many  works  of  his  pencil  were  executed  for  Spain.  He  was  hated,  of  course,  as  a 
successful  foreigner,  by  his  Neapolitan  neighbors ;    nor,  if  half  the  evil  reported  of  him 


184  MASTERPIECES    OF   EUROPEAN  ART. 


a  true  did  he  deserve  much  better.  A  cabal  he  formed  with  a  Greek  painter  to 
monopolize  Naples,  as  a  field  for  themselves,  was  carried  out  unscrupulously,  and  with 
complete  success.  In  the  Royal  Gallery  at  Madrid  is  an  admirable  example  of  Ribem, 
"Jacobs  Dream,"  which  is  described  as  an  exact  transcript  of  a  wayworn  monk  asleep. 
Few  artists  have  excelled  Ribera's  portraits,  either  in  force  or  spirit  One  of  himself, 
from  the  gallery  at  Naples,  we  engrave  on  page  185.  Ribera  died  at  Naples,  1656. 
according  to  one  account ;  but  according  to  another,  perhaps  equally  trustworthy,  he  left 
Naples  surreptitiously  a  few  years  earlier,  under  the  pressure  of  a  severe  family  morti- 
fication, ami  was  never  afterwards  heard  of.  Salvator  Rosa  and  Luca  Giordano  were 
his  pupils. 

Fkan.  isco  Pacheco  has  several  claims  to  a  place  in  the  Masters  of  Spanish  art  as 
a  writer  on  painting,  as  the  teacher  of  Alonso  Cano  and  of  Velasquez,  apart  from  the 
moderate  merit  of  his  own  pictures.  He  was  born  in  Seville,  1571,  the  descendant  of 
a  noble*  family  long  distinguished  in  letters  and  in  arms.  He  acquired  his  art  in  the 
studio  of  Luis  Fernandez,  of  Seville,  the  school  of  many  celebrated  painters.  His  first 
essays  were  in  painting  flags  or  standards  for  the  fleet  of  New  Spain,  in  1594.  On 
their  crimson  damask  material  he  emblazoned  in  oil  the  royal  arms  of  Spain,  with  her 
patron,  St.  Jago,  on  horseback,  surrounded  by  rich  borders  and  decorations.  His  brush 
was  again  in  request  for  the  funeral  obsequies  of  Philip  II,  1598.  The  painting  which 
probably  does  Pacheco  most  credit  is  a  "Last  Judgment,"  executed  for  the  nuns  of 
St.  Isabel.  Pleading  the  example  of  Titian,  he  introduced  into  a  foreground  group  a 
|K>rtrait  of  the  author.  The  work  was  a  good  deal  criticised,  and  not  less  eulogized; 
a  Jesuit  father  wrote  in  its  behalf;  a  gallant  knight  of  St.  John  composed  a  long  copy 
of  verses  in  its  praise.  In  the  course  of  time,  Pacheco  was  nominated  a  Familiar  of  the 
Inquisition,  and  an  Inspector  of  Pictures.  The  latter  office  imposed  on  him  the  duty 
of  seeing  that   nothing  offensive  to    pious   eyes  was    introduced    into  churches,  or   even 

<>tt<red    for    sale. 

Pacheco  was  now  at  the  summit  of  his  profession,  much  employed,  courted  by 
artists,  men  of  letters,  and  ecclesiastics,  particularly  by  the  Jesuits.  His  pupil,  Velasquez, 
now  his  son-in-law,  was  just  rising  into  notice,  and  was  invited  to  Madrid,  whither,  in 
1623,  Pacheco  accompanied  him  and  where  he  remained  for  two  years.  Returning  to 
.Seville  at  the  end  of  that  time,  Pacheco  resumed  his  busy  life  as  an  artist  and  censor 
of  art,  and  meditated  a  work  on  the  history  of  painting,  which,  after  many  years  of 
incubation,  was  given  to  the  world  in  1649,  under  the  title  of  the  "Arte  de  la  Pintura." 
In  addition  to  learned  disquisitions  on  antiquarian  points,  the  quarto  volume  contained 
a  summary  of  the  rules  sanctioned  by  the  Holy  Office  for  the  treatment  of  sacred 
subjects.     That  portion  of  the  work  which  treats  of  Spanish  art  is  particularly  valuable; 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


185 


the  author's  pardonable  pride  in  the  brilliant  success  of  his  son-in-law  imparts  a  human 
interest  to  abstract  discussion.  He  was  successful  in  portraits,  of  which  he  is  known  to 
have  executed,  often  in  crayons,  about  a  hundred  and  fifty.  Michael  Cervantes  sat  to 
him.     Pacheco's  own  portrait  hangs  in  the  Louvre.     He  died  at  Seville,  1654. 

To  the  school  of  Andalusia   belongs  Alonso  Cano,  painter,  sculptor   and   architect. 


From  the  original,  by  Josef  de  Ribera. 

JOSEF   DE   RIBERA    (IL   SPAGNOLETTO) 


His  father,  Miguel,  a  designer  and  carver  of  retablos,  or  altar-pieces,  resided  at  Granada 
at  the  date  of  his  son  Alonso's  birth,  in  1601.  The  family  afterwards  removed  to  Seville, 
and  young  Alonso  began  to  learn  sculpture  from  Montafiez,  the  first  sculptor  of  Spain, 
and  painting  in  the  studios  of  Pacheco,  and  afterwards  of  Castillo.  He  would  not 
unfrequently  refresh  himself,  after  protracted  labor,  by  exchanging  the  brush  for  the 
mallet,  as  less  of  a  strain  upon  his  powers.  A  duel,  in  which  Cano  severely  wounded 
his  adversary,  another  artist  of  Seville,  compelled  him  to  retire  to  Madrid,  1637.  There 
he  found  Velasquez,  his  former  fellow-pupil  at  Pacheco's,  high  in  favor  at  court,  and 
obtained  employment  from  Olivarez,  then  the  favorite  minister  of  Philip  IV. 


,86  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


A  more  serious  event  than  even  the  duel  occurred,  1644,  to  disturb  the  quiet  tenor 
of  the  artist's  life.  His  wife  was  found  murdered  in  bed,  and  her  husband  was  accused 
of  the  crime.  Whether  the  accusation  was  well  founded  or  not  will  never  be  ascer- 
tained. He  was  examined  under  torture,  and  was  eventually  acquitted.  The  incident 
seems  to  have  had  no  influence  in  alienating  the  artist's  patrons  and  friends;  we  may 
therefore  assume  that  those  who  had  the  best  means  of  judging  held  him  innocent.  A 
good  story  is  told  of  an  interview  between  this  artist  and  a  certain  auditor  in  chancery 
at  Granada,  who  had  given  Cano  a  commission  to  carve  for  him  a  paso  of  St.  Anthony 
of  Padua.  The  auditor  called  to  see  the  statue,  was  satisfied  with  it,  and  asked  its 
price.  It  was  a  hundred  pistoles.  "What!"  exclaimed  the  auditor,  "a  hundred  pistoles 
for  the  work  of  twenty-five  days!  Exactly  double  what  I  make  by  my  profession." 
"That  may  be,"  rejoined  Cano,  "but  it  has  taken  me  fifty  years  to  learn  how  to  make 
such  a  thin^  in  twenty-five  days.  Besides,"  he  added,  "the  king  can  make  judges  out 
of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  but  God  alone  can  make  an  artist  like  Cano."  With  these 
words  he  dashed  the  figure  to  the  ground,  and  his  visitor  quickly  withdrew.  Cano  had, 
in  the  heat  of  the  moment,  exposed  himself  to  the  vengeance  of  the  Inquisition,  which 
treated  any  indignity  offered  to  the  effigy  of  a  saint  as  a  capital  offence.  The  auditor, 
however,  seems  to  have  kept  his  own  counsel,  and  refrained  from  denouncing  the 
painter.  But,  for  a  similar  outrage  offered  to  an  effigy  of  St.  Mary,  a  century  before, 
Torrigiano  is  reported  to  have  been  condemned  to  death,  and  to  have  died  before 
execution  by  voluntary  starvation. 

Cano  died  at  Granada,  1667.  and  was  buried  next  day,  among  the  deceased  canons, 
underneath  the  cathedral  choir.  As  a  painter  he  stands  among  the  first  of  the  Spanish 
school,  more  especially  in  Seville  and  Granada.  An  admirable  colorist,  he  united  bold- 
ness and  vigor  of  execution  to  great  delicacy,  and  even  tenderness,  in  the  features  and 
finer  details  of  his  pictures.  His  works  are  found  in  many  of  the  cities  of  Spain.  The 
museum  and  royal  gallery  at  Madrid  are  rich  in  examples.  The  St.  John  which  we 
engrave  on  page  1S7  is  from  that  gallery,  and  there  are  many  examples  in  the  Spanish 
collection  in  the  Louvre.  As  a  sculptor,  but  few  examples  of  his  work  remain ;  yet, 
judged  by  these,  he  was  never  surpassed  by  any  Spanish  carver,  not  even  by  Juni  or 
MontaAes.  To  his  practice  of  this  art  he  probably  owed  his  skill  in  painting  hands  and 
feet,  for  which  he  was  remarkable. 

Francisco  i>f.  Zurbaran,  the  Caravaggio  of  Spain,  was  born  in  the  cottage  of  a 
laboring  man  at  Fuente  de  Cantos,  in  Estremadura,  1598.  By  the  kind  indulgence  of 
his  parents  he  was  permitted  to  follow  his  strong  natural  bent  for  art,  instead  of 
following  the  plough,  and  he  eventually  became  the  pupil  of  Roelas,  at  Seville.  His 
talent  was  equaled  by  his  incessant  application.     He  trusted  nothing  to  memory.      If  it 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


187 


was  only  a  bit  of  drapery,  there  must  be  something  to  paint  it  from  on  the  lay  figure. 
In  this  way  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fame  as  the  most  intensely  realistic  painter  of 
the  Spanish  school.  The  fine  sacristy  of  the  Geronymite  convent  at  Guadaloupe  pos- 
sesses eight  out  of  eleven  large  pictures  from  the  life  of  St.  Jerome,  patron  of  the 
monks,  executed  by  Zurbaran  at  this   time,  as  were   also   three  others,  for  the  Cartuxa, 


From  the  original. 


ST.  JOHN,   THE   EVANGELIST. 


by  Alonso  Cano. 


or  Charterhouse,  of  Seville,  now  in  the  museum.  These  are  Kruno,  the  founder,  con- 
versing with  the  Pope,  a  painting  of  rare  merit ;  St.  Hugo  visiting  monks  at  dinner,  in 
the  act  of  breaking  their  rule  that  forbids  animal  food,  a  masterpiece  of  the  painter ; 
and  St.  Mary  protecting  a  company  of  Carthusians.  The  faces  of  the  monks  in  the 
last  two  pictures  have  all  the  force  of  truthful  portraits. 

Zurbaran  resided  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life  at  Seville.  He  once  or  twice 
visited  Madrid ;  on  one  of  these  occasions  Philip  IV,  who  admired  good  art,  appointed 
him  his  court-painter,  by  tapping  the  artist  on  the  shoulder,  it  is  said,  and  saluting  him 


188  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


as  "King's  painter,  and  king  of  painters."  He  is  represented  in  nearly  all  the  principal 
galleries  of  Europe.  Seville,  Madrid  and  other  Spanish  cities  possess  many  of  his 
paintings;  the  Louvre  has  thirty  which  are  genuine,  and  fifty  more  of  doubtful  or 
spurious  character.  In  the  British  National  Gallery  hangs  one  of  the  artist's  Carthu- 
sians in  prayer,  holding  in  both  hands  a  skull.  An  engraving  of  this  will  be  found  on 
page  189.  Probably  the  finest  example  of  this  master,  out  of  Spain,  is  at  Stafford 
House,  the  Duke  of  Sutherland's  London  residence,  one  of  four  Zurbarans  in  the 
gallery.  The  subject  is  "The  Adoration  of  the  Magi,"  which  is  engraved  on  page  191. 
"As  is  usual  with  Spanish  painters,"  says  Mrs.  Jameson,  describing  the  picture,  "the 
head  of  the  Virgin  is  a  portrait,  and  so  peculiar  and  marked  in  character  as  to  leave 
a  strong  impression  on  the  fancy  and  memory.  The  painting  is  beautiful ;  the  colors 
bright  and  warm ;  the  imitation  of  nature,  in  the  objects  introduced,  careful ;  on  the 
whole,  a  very  remarkable  and  interesting  picture  of  the  master." 

Diego  Rodriquez  de  Silva  y  Velasquez,  son  of  Juan  de  Silva,  a  lawyer,  and 
Geronima  Velasquez,  his  wife,  was  born  at  Seville,  1599.  His  mother,  by  whose  name 
he  is  best  known,  belonged  to  a  noble  Andalusian  family;  his  father,  Juan,  was  of  good 
Portuguese  descent,  but  with  fortune  so  reduced  as  to  make  it  necessary  for  him  to 
adopt  a  profession.  Their  son  early  evinced  his  strong  inclination  for  art,  and,  after  a 
liberal  education,  was  sent  to  study  painting  under  Herrera  the  elder,  a  vigorous  but 
somewhat  coarse  master  of  the  Andalusian  school.  Herrera,  in  his  transports  of  rage, 
did  not  hesitate  to  beat  his  pupils.  Ere  long,  young  Velasquez  left  him  in  disgust,  and 
sought  instruction  in  the  studio  of  Pacheco,  which  is  described  by  the  master  himself, 
in  his  "Arte  de  la  Pintura,"  as  "an  academy  of  good  taste."  In  this  school  he  worked 
for  five  years,  won  the  regard  of  his  master,  and  married  his  master's  daughter,  Juana. 

Velasquez  did  not  content  himself  with  merely  copying  studies  for  his  master;  he 
labored  very  constantly  in  drawing  and  painting  from  solid  objects.  Nothing  came  amiss 
to  him.  He  drew  flowers,  fruits,  animals,  birds,  fish,  still  life,  plate,  metal,  earthen  pots, 
and  pans,  and  colored  them  with  extreme  care  after  the  reality  before  him.  In  this  way 
he  trained  his  eye  and  hand  to  transfer  whatever  he  desired  to  the  canvas  with  ease 
and  certainty.  His  studies  from  the  living  model  were  quite  as  important.  A  young 
peasant  was  engaged  to  sit  to  the  artist  continually,  in  every  variety  of  attitude,  weeping, 
laughing,  grimacing.  When  we  are  told  diat  Velasquez's  works  were  once  described  as 
more  like  the  spontaneous  creations  of  the  will  than  the  labored  result  of  manual  skill. 
we  know  where  the  consummate  painter  gained  the  art  that  could  thus  conceal  his  art 
An  example  of  his  early  manner,  as  a  sagacious  observer  of  nature,  exists  in  the  Duke 
of  Wellington's  gallery,  Apsley  House,  London.  It  is  called  the  "Aguador,"  or  "Water- 
Seller  of  Seville."     It  is  engraved  on  page  195.      King  Joseph  Bonaparte  took  a  fancy 


K* 


OF  GMS>" 


SPANISH    SCHOOL. 


189 


From  the  original. 


iv  Francisco  de  Zurbaran. 


THE    MONK    IN    PRAYER. 


to  it,  and  carried  it  off  with  him  when  he  fled  from  Madrid.  At  the  battle  of  Vittoria 
it  fell  into  the  British  hands,  and  Ferdinand  VII  presented  it  to  Lord  Wellington.  This 
picture  contains  but  three  figures :  a  man  in  rough  dress,  rugged  and  sunburnt,  stands 
beside  his  water-pitcher;    while  of  two  boys,  also    rudely  clothed,  one   is  taking  a  glass 


190  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


of  water  from  the  man,  and  his  companion  slakes  his  thirst  from  a  pipkin.  Man,  boys 
and  pitcher  stand  out  from  the. canvas  with  the  solid  reality  of  actual  fact. 

Velasquez,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  traveled  for  the  first  time  beyond  his  native 
province,  and  paid  a  short  visit  to  Madrid,  furnished  with  introductions  by  his  father-in- 
law,  more  particularly  to  the  canon  Fonseca,  an  accomplished  ecclesiastic  and  a  fellow- 
townsman  of  the  young  painter,  who  had  set  his  heart  on  securing  the  rising  artist  for 
Madrid,  and  in  a  few  months  obtained  from  the  minister,  Olivarez,  a  royal  command 
summoning  Velasquez  to  Madrid.  The  painter  then  took  up  his  residence  for  life  in 
the  capital.  Pacheco  accompanied  him,  as  did  also  a  young  mulatto  slave  named  Juan 
de  Pareja,  whom  Velasquez  kept,  and  who  eventually  became  a  good  painter. 

Fonseca's  portrait,  the  first  that  Velasquez  ever  painted,  opened  the  gate  of  the 
court  to  the  artist.  Olivarez  next  sat  to  him,  and,  in  no  long  time,  Philip  IV  himself. 
The  latter  painting  is  now  at  the  Royal  Gallery  of  Madrid.  We  present  our  readers 
with  an  engraving  of  this  wonderful  portrait,  etched  by  the  now  famous  M.  Haussoullier. 
Velasquez  was  named  painter  in  ordinary  to  the  king,  with  a  salary.  Velasquez  had 
also  executed  a  noble  equestrian  portrait  of  Philip.  When  finished,  it  was  exhibited  to 
the  people  on  a  holiday,  and  excited  a  storm  of  applause.  From  that  date  Velasquez's 
brush  was  in  constant  demand  to  paint  the  royal  features,  and  those  of  other  members 
of  the  reigning  family.  In  the  celebrated  Madrid  portrait  represented  in  our  illustra- 
tion, the  spectator  admires  the  easy  attitude,  the  astonishing  reality  of  the  narrow 
forehead,  the  insignificant  eye,  and  the  massive  under-jaw.  Note  also  the  deer-skin 
gloves,  the  fowling-piece,  the  tawny  coat  of  the  sporting  dog,  and  the  barren  Castilian 
landscape  into  which  the  pursuit  of  game  has  brought  Philip. 

Wlasquez,  with  his  faithful  Pareja,  set  out  for  Italy  in  1629,  with  a  two  years'  leave 
of  absence.  During  his  year's  residence  in  Rome,  Velasquez  painted  only  three  original 
pictures — his  "Forge  of  Vulcan,"  now  at  Madrid;  his  "Joseph's  Coat,"  now  in  the 
Escurial ;  and  his  own  portrait,  for  his  father-in-law. 

The  painter's  next  move  was  to  Naples ;  there  he  found  his  fellow-countryman, 
Ribcra,  and  managed,  with  his  usual  tact,  to  associate  with  him,  yet  without  arousing 
the  jealousy  of  the  rude  Valencian.  Early  in  1631,  Velasquez  returned  home,  to  receive 
fresh  honors  and  achieve  new  successes  with  his  pencil.  New  apartments  were  assigned 
to  him  in  the  Alcazar,  where  Philip  was  in  the  daily  habit  of  visiting  the  artist  at  all 
hours,  admitting  himself  with  a  private  key,  and  chatting,  while  Velasquez  painted,  for 
hours  together.  In  1639  ne  executed  one  of  his  finest  works,  a  crucifixion,  for  the  nuns 
of  San  Placido,  Madrid.  The  one  solitary  figure,  without  either  landscape,  clouds  or 
attendants,  hangs  there  on  the  cross,  which  is  not  carried  down  to  the  ground,  and  is 
relieved  against  a  plain  dark  background,  like  an  ivory  carving  on  sombre  velvet.    The 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


191 


anatomy  of  the  nude  figure  is  carefully  executed;  the  linen  cloth  about  the  loins,  the 
fir-wood  of  the  cross,  are  depicted  in  their  minutest  details.  "  The  treatment  is  most 
impressive — awful  in  the  very  simplicity  of  its  means.      It  was  offered  for  sale  in  Paris, 


From  the  original. 


THE  ADORATION    OF   THE   MAGI. 


by  Francisco  de  Zuriaran. 


after  the  French  robberies  of  Spanish  galleries;  a  patriotic  Spaniard  redeemed  it,  at  a 
high  figure,  and  gave  it  to  the  Royal  Gallery,  Madrid,  where  it  now  hangs.  Velasquez 
painted  the  portraits  of  many  of  the  court  dwarfs,  generally  as  single  figures,  and  seated 


i92  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


on  the  ground,  so  as  a  little  to  dissemble  their  diminutive  height,  for  the  artist  disdained 
to  caricature.  Two  of  them  were  introduced  into  his  celebrated  picture  of  the  "Meninas," 
or  "Maids  of  Honor." 

It  must  be  mentioned,  to  the  credit  of  Velasquez  as  a  man,  that  notwithstanding 
his  intimacy  with  the  king,  when  his  original  patron,  Olivarez,  fell  into  disgrace  at  court, 
the  painter  did  not  turn  his  back  upon  him,  but  went  to  see  him  in  his  exile.  Neither 
did  Philip  resent  this  independence  of  spirit.  Between  1 645-1 648,  the  painter  executed 
one  of  his  most  celebrated  works,  "The  Surrender  of  Breda,"  sometimes  called  "Las 
Lanzas,"  or  "The  Lancers,"  from  the  pikemen  massed  at  one  side  of  the  picture, 
opposite  the  spectator's  right. 

Velasquez  again  visited  Italy,  1648,  commissioned  by  Philip  to  collect  works  of  art 
for  the  royal  gallery  he  desired  to  found  in  his  capital.  He  sailed  from  Malaga  to 
Genoa,  accompanied  by  his  faithful  man  of  color,  Pareja ;  traveled  by  way  of  Milan  and 
Padua  to  Venice,  and  thence  by  Bologna  and  Parma  to  Florence.  Carlo  Dolce  and 
Salvator  Rosa  were  living  there  at  that  time.  His  progress  was  everywhere  a  kind  of 
triumph,  his  reception  the  most  cordial.  In  Rome,  the  Pope,  Innocent  X  (Pamfili-Doria), 
welcomed  him.  and  sat  to  him  for  the  fine  portrait,  now  in  the  Doria  palace.  The 
following  year  he  returned  to  Spain,  bearing  widi  him  works  of  Tintoretto  and  Paolo 
Veronese  for  the  king.  His  recent  services  were  acknowledged  by  his  promotion  to  the 
dignified  office  of  Aposcntador-mayor  of  the  royal  household.  The  duties,  which  were 
not  light,  regarded  the  personal  accommodation  and  lodging  of  the  king.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  world  is  poorer  by  many  great  works  of  art  in  consequence  of  this 
promotion.  Yet  the  office  was  one  of  high  rank  and  good  emolument.  The  holder 
placed  the  royal  chair  when  the  king  dined  in  public ;  he  set  chairs  for  cardinals  and 
viceroys  at  audiences.     He  carried  at  his  girdle  an  official  key. 

From  that  date  the  brush  of  the  painter  was  less  in  requisition.  Yet  to  that  period 
belongs  a  group  of  portraits  reckoned  the  best  ever  painted  by  him — "Las  Meninas," 
or  "The  Maids  of  Honor."  In  his  portrait  engraved  on  page  193,  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  painter  wears  on  his  breast  the  red  cross  of  Santiago.  The  story  goes  that  it 
was  painted  by  the  king  himself,  who,  taking  up  a  brush,  conferred  the  honor  of  knight- 
hood in  that  distinguished  order  on  the  favorite  artist. 

Velasquez*  connection  with  the  court  ultimately  proved  fatal  to  him.  In  the  summer 
of  1660,  a  festival  meeting  of  the  French  and  Spanish  courts  was  arranged,  in  honor 
of  the  nuptials  of  Louis  XIV,  and  the  Infanta,  Maria  Theresa.  The  place  of  meeting 
was  the  Isle  of  Pheasants,  in  the  river  Bidassoa.  Velasquez  was  officially  charged  with 
the  whole  arrangements — the  erection  of  a  range  of  pavilions,  and  all  that  was  required 
for  the  great  court  ceremony.     Not  only  so,  but  he  was  bound  to  find  suitable  lodging 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


193 


and  entertainment  for  the  king  and  his  suite  at  every  stage  of  the  long  road  from 
Madrid  to  Fontarabia,  a  journey  which  occupied  six  weeks.  The  festivities  were  all  over 
in  a  week.  Then  the  return  journey  commenced,  and  ended  in  about  three  weeks 
more.  By  the  end  of  June,  Velasquez  was  able  to  take  some  repose  at  home  with  his 
family.  A  month  later,  he  was  suddenly  seized  with  mortal  illness,  and  died  seven  days 
after,  August  6,  1660.     His  wife,  Dona  Juana,  survived  him  only  one  week. 


From  the  original. 


PORTRAIT  OF  VELASQUEZ. 


by  Velasquez. 


One  or  two  more  of  his  pictures  claim  a  brief  notice.  "Las  Hilanderas,"  or  "The 
Tapestry  Manufactory,"  at  Madrid,  is  indeed  the  perfection  of  reality.  In  front  are 
several  women,  of  various  ages,  occupied  in  spinning  and  chatting  to  one  another.  It 
would  seem  that  the  vainest  of  their  charms  are  not  the  youngest.  Within  an  alcove 
at  the  back,  other  women  are  in  treaty  for  the  sale  of  a  piece  of  tapestry  with  a  lady 
of  tall  and  elegant  figure,  but  whose  face  is  averted  from  the  spectator  as  she  looks  at 
the  tapestry,  so  that,  as  Ford  remarks,  "it  is  left  to  the  imagination  of  each  spectator 
to  invest  her  with  that  quality  of  beauty  which  best  accords  with  his  peculiar  liking." 


194  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


In  the  gallery  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland's  London  residence,  Stafford  House,  there 
is  a  very  striking  picture  by  Velasquez,  representing  Francis  Borgia,  Duke  of  Gandia, 
meeting  Ignatius  Loyola  at  the  gate  of  a  Jesuit  convent  The  duke  has  come  to 
renounce  his  rank  and  fortune  as  a  grandee  of  Spain,  and  associate  himself  with  the 
fortunes  of  the  new  religious  order. 

An  impressive  single-figure  picture  by  Velasquez's  hand  is  now  in  the  British 
National  collection,  entitled  "El  Orlando  Muerto"  ("Dead  Roland").  That  it  represents 
the  hero  of  Roncesvalles  has  not  been  proved;  but  however  that  may  be,  the  solitary 
figure  lying  outstretched  on  a  bed  of  rock,  in  darkness  rendered  only  more  visible  by 
the  still  burning  wick  of  an  extinguished  lamp  suspended  over  him,  leaves  on  the  spec- 
tator a  weird  recollection  of  solemn  power.  The  countenance  is  already  stamped  with 
the  complexion  of  the  grave.  The  mailed  body  is  in  strange  contrast  with  the  square 
shoes  and  ribbons  on  the  feet  The  difficulties  of  foreshortening  were  never  more  com- 
pletely overcome.  As  regards  Velasquez's  portraits  in  general,  they  rank  among  the 
best  of  any  school.  "His  portraits  baffle  description  and  praise,"  remarks  Mr.  Ford. 
"They  must  be  seen.  He  elevated  that  humble  branch  of  art  to  the  dignity  of  history. 
He  drew  the  minds  of  men ;  they  live,  breathe  and  seem  ready  to  walk  out  of  their 
frames.  His'  power  of  painting  circumambient  air,  his  knowledge  of  linear  and  aerial 
perspective,  the  gradation  of  tones  in  light  shadow  and  color,  give  an  absolute  concavity 
to  the  flat  surface  of  his  canvas;  we  look  into  space,  into  a  room,  into  the  reflection 
of  a  mirror." 

J i  an  Pareja,  the  slave  and  valet  of  Velasquez,  was  born  in  1610  in  the  West 
Indies,  of  a  Spanish  father  by  an  Indian  woman.  His  business  was  to  pound  the  colors, 
clean  the  brushes,  and  put  the  colors  on  the  palette.  Pareja,  who  had  been  a  long  time 
in  the  studio,  every  day  learning  some  secret  of  the  art  which  was  carried  on  before 
him,  had,  at  last  felt  his  true  vocation.  Carried  away  by  his  passion,  Pareja  began  to 
study  with  as  much  ardor  as  he  was  forced  to  use  mystery.  During  the  day  he  watched 
his  master  paint,  and  listened  to  the  lessons  he  gave  to  his  pupils ;  then,  during  the 
night,  he  practised  the  lesson  with  pencil  and  brush.  Studies  such  as  these  could  not 
lead  to  rapid  progress;  it  required  much  time  and  the  most  obstinate  perseverance  on 
the  part  of  Pareja  before  he  could  attain  to  a  knowledge  of  his  art  At  last  when  he 
was  forty-five  years  old,  he  thought  himself  sufficiently  skillful  to  reveal  the  secret  so 
long  kept  To  do  this  and  obtain  his  pardon  at  the  same  time,  he  employed  the  fol- 
lowing artifice:  Philip  IV  used  to  amuse  himself  with  looking  over  the  sketches  which 
were  scattered  about  the  room.  Having  completed  a  picture  of  small  dimensions,  Pareja 
slipped  it  amongst  other  paintings  with  their  faces  turned  to  the  wall.  At  his  first  visit 
the  king  did  not  fail  to  ask  for  all  the  sketches  in  the  studio.     When  Pareja  presented 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


'95 


him  with  his  own  picture,  Philip,  much  surprised,  asked  who  had  painted  that  fine  work 
which  he  had  not  seen  commenced.  The  mulatto  then,  throwing  himself  at  his  feet, 
confessed  that  he  was  the  author,  and  entreated  the  king  to  intercede  for  him  with  his 


From  the  original, 


THE  WATER-SELLER    OF   SEVILLE. 


by  Velasqutz. 


master.  Still  more  astonished  at  this  strange  revelation,  Philip  turned  to  Velasquez, 
saying,  "You  have  nothing  to  reply;  only  remember  that  the  man  who  possesses  such 
talent  cannot  remain  a  slave."  Velasquez  hastened  to  raise  Pareja,  and  promising  him 
his  liberty,  which  he  afterwards  gave  him    in  an    authentic   deed,  he  admitted  him    from 


196  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


that  day  into  his  school  and  society.  Certainly  this  is  a  singular  and  touching  history 
of  a  slave  earning  his  liberty  by  the  power  of  labor  and  talent,  and  obtaining  it  through 
the  intercession  of  a  king.  Pareja,  however,  showed  himself  worthy  of  it,  less  by  his 
merit  than  by  his  humble  and  grateful  conduct  He  continued  to  wait  on  Velasquez 
freely,  and  even  after  the  death  of  the  great  painter  he  served  his  daughter,  who  was 
married  to  Mazo  Martinez,  until  his  own  death,  which  took  place  in  1670.  We  engrave, 
on  page  197,  "Christ  calling  Matthew,"  which  was  painted  by  command  of  the  king  for 
the  palace  of  Aranjuez.  It  is  now  in  the  Royal  Gallery  of  Madrid.  Pareja  introduced 
his  own  portrait  in  this  painting;  he  stands  on  the  left  of  the  observer.  He  is  usually  called 
"Pareja.  the  Slave  of  Velasquez,"  as  Sebastian  Gomez  is  called  the  "Mulatto  of  Murillo." 

Bartolom£  EsTfevAN  Murillo  was  a  native  of  Seville.  Authorities  differ  as  to  the 
exact  year  of  his  birth,  which  took  place,  probably,  late  in  161 7.  As  soon  as  the  boy 
had  learned  to  read  and  write,  he  was  placed  in  the  studio  of  Castillo,  a  relation  of  his 
own.  He  set  his  heart  on  visiting  Rome,  and  for  this  purpose  he  made  up  a  number 
of  small  pictures  of  popular  saints,  of  landscapes  and  flowers,  and  sold  them  to  the 
dealers  who  traded  with  the  Spanish  American  colonies.  In  this  way  he  made  up  a 
little  purse,  and  leaving  his  sister  in  the  care  of  her  relations,  he  set  out  first  for  Madrid ; 
he  was  then  about  twenty-six  years  of  age.  There  he  applied  to  Velasquez  for  some 
Roman  introductions.  The  king's  painter  took  an  interest  in  the  needy  artist,  lodged 
him  in  his  house,  and  procured  him  access  to  the  royal  galleries  for  the  purposes  of 
study.  The  few  months  immediately  following,  Murillo  turned  to  so  good  an  account 
that  Velasquez  pronounced  him  ready  for  Rome,  and  offered  him  introductions.  By  Uiis 
time,  however,  Murillo  had  discovered  his  own  powers,  and,  instead  of  going  to  Italy, 
he  returned  to  Seville,  after  two  years'  absence,  and  commenced  his  career  as  a  painter. 
Chance  soon  threw  in  his  way  a  commission  to  paint  a  series  of  pictures  for  the  cloister 
of  the  Franciscans  at  Seville.  There  were  eleven  of  them,  illustrating  as  many  incidents 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  order.  They  were  all  carried  off  by  Soult,  the  French 
general  and  picture-dealer.  A  year  or  two  afterwards  a  destructive  fire  overwhelmed 
the  convent,  so  that  the  world  at  large  was  a  gainer,  if  Spain  was  a  loser,  by  the 
wholesale  robberies  of  Napoleon's  general.  These  fine  pictures  belong  to  what  is 
called  the  first  of  Murillo's  styles  of  execution,  distinguished  by  a  firm  outline,  bor- 
dering on  hartlness,  and  a  management  of  chiaroscuro  suggesting  Zurbaran  or  Caravaggio. 

Ilnr  year  1660  is  remarkable  for  the  institution  of  an  Academy  of  Art  at  Seville, 
chiefly  through  the  agency  of  Murillo.  The  hospital  of  the  Santa  Caridad  at  Seville 
employed  Murillo  to  paint  eight  of  his  finest  works  for  the  church  of  the  establishment. 
Several  of  them  remain  in  their  places ;  others  were  carried  off*  by  Soult.  All  of  them 
represent  religious  subjects — events  in  Scripture   history  and   the   lives  of  saints.      One 


'KURIL! 


', 


;  t  ?  //  /  ■ .'.  j  f  < 


36 


/  /.  /  j  <■ 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


197 


of  them   is   now  in   the  Academy  collection,  Madrid,  and   represents   the  charity  of  St. 
Elizabeth  of  Hungary  towards  the  sick. 

Murillo's  life  was  less  eventful  and  less  varied  than  that  of  his  great  contemporary, 
Velasquez.  The  lapse  of  years  in  the  Seville  painter's  house  was  marked  only  by  the 
successive  works  of  beauty  that  issued  from  his  hand.  His  last  painting  was  under- 
taken for  the  Capuchin  friars  at  Cadiz,  "The  Espousals  of  St.  Catherine."     It  was  painted 


From  the  original. 


CHRIST   AND   ST.  MATTHEW. 


by  Juan  Pareja. 


in  its  place  over  an  altar,  and  had  nearly  reached  completion  when  a  severe  accident 
befell  the  painter,  who  never  worked  again,  and  returned  home  to  Seville  to  die, 
April  3,  1682. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  Murillo  is  the  best-known  painter  of  Spain  ;  Velasquez 
even  cannot  compete  with  him  in  this.  Not  only  are  there  more  pictures  of  his  in 
foreign  collections,  but  many  more  of  them  rank  among  the  highest  efforts  of  the 
master's  skill.  Velasquez's  best  works  must  be  sought  for  in  Spain.  Seville  is  the 
stronghold  of  Murillo's  masterpieces,  but  France,  England  and  America  can  show  a 
great  number  of  his  works  hardly  if  at  all  inferior   to    them.      The  most  celebrated  of 


I9«  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Murillo's  Madonnas,  if  not  the  finest,  is  now  one  of  the  costliest  gems  in  the  Louvre, 
and  represents  "The  Conception  of  the  Virgin"— a  favorite  subject  with  the  Franciscan 
patrons  of  Murillo,  and  often  flourished  in  the  face  of  their  great  rivals,  the  Dominicans, 
who  rejected  it 

Our  steel  engraving  of  Murillo's  "St.  Francis  of  Assissi,"  is  taken  from  a  painting 
now  in  the  Seville  Museum,  and  originally  in  the  Capuchin  convent — "alike  won- 
derful in  expression  and  marvelous  in  execution,"  as  Ford  remarks.  It  is  the  legend 
of  St.  Francis'  vision  on  Mount  Alvernio,  in  which  the  suffering  Redeemer  seemed  to 
admit  the  saint  into  the  "fellowship  of  His  sufferings,"  by  marking  his  palms,  his  feet 
and  his  side  with  the  wounds  of  His  own  passion.  The  right  hand  of  the  Saviour  is 
for  the  moment  released  from  the  cross  and  laid  on  Francis'  shoulder;  the  saint  looks 
up  into  his  face  with  love,  pity  and  adoration  blended  together.  Francis'  foot  tramples 
on  a  globe,  as  an  emblem  that  a  moment  like  that  were  cheaply  purchased  by  the  wealth 
of  a  world.  The  other  engraving,  "St.  John,"  by  Mr.  Stocks,  after  the  original  in  the 
gallery  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland,  is  a  representation  of  Murillo's  earlier  style. 

"The  Guardian  Angel"  of  Murillo  claims  one  word  of  notice  as  a  guide  to  any 
traveller  who  happens  to  find  himself  in  Seville  Cathedral.  A  delicious  child,  full  of 
love  and  confidence,  is  led  by  the  hand  of  one  of  the  heavenly  host,  draped  and  plumed, 
over  a  gloomy  landscape,  illuminated  only  by  a  ray  of  light  from  heaven,  toward  which 
the  angel  is  pointing. 

Frequent  robberies  of  pictures  in  foreign  galleries  are  often  mentioned  in  histories 
of  art.  Copyists  have  been  known  to  leave  their  copies  in  the  gallery,  and  carry  away 
the  originals.  Only  a  few  years  ago  a  valuable  "St.  Antony,"  by  Murillo,  was  abstracted 
from  Seville  Cathedral,  and  carried  to  New  York.  The  fortunate  purchaser  was  amply 
repaid  for  his  outlay  by  the  liberal  reward  the  Spanish  authorities  had  offered  for  the 
recovery  of  the  picture.     Its  return  to  Seville  was  made  the  occasion  of  public  rejoicings. 

Claudio  Cof.ii/)  may  be  termed  the  last  of  the  great  school  of  Spain.  It  came  in 
with  a  Coello,  and  went  out  with  one.  He  was  born  at  Madrid,  about  1640.  He 
worked  assiduously  at  his  art,  and  painted  many  pictures  for  monasteries  and  churches. 
His  principal  title  to  fame  is  the  picture  of  the  "Santa  Forma,"  the  altar-piece  in  the 
sacristy  of  the  Escurial — an  elaborate  collection  of  more  than  fifty  portraits  of  ecclesi- 
astics and  others,  including  the  contemptible  Charles  II  of  Spain.  He  died  in  1693, 
eleven  months  after  Luca  Fa-presto  (or  Look-sharp),  as  Giordano  was  nicknamed,  sup- 
planted him  in  the  royal  patronage. 

The  artistic  night  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  Spain  is  illuminated  by  one  solitary 
star,  who,  though  not  of  the  first  magnitude,  was  more  than  visible  to  the  unaided  eye; 
that  star  was  Francisco  Goya  y  Lucientes.    His  portrait  is  engraved  on  the  following  page. 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


199 


He  was  a  native  of  Aragon,  born  in  1746,  and  in  his  fourteenth  year  began  the  study 
of  art,  in  the  studio  of  Martinez,  at  Saragossa.  Settling  at  Madrid,  he  soon  attracted 
attention  and  became  a  popular  artist.  He  enjoyed  the  honors  of  the  Academy  of  San 
Fernando ;  and  on  the  accession  of  Charles  IV,  Goya  was  promoted  to  the  office  of 
royal  painter  in  ordinary.  The  queen,  the  notorious  Maria  Louisa,  a  Bourbon  princess 
of  Parma,  took  him  into  favor,  and  thus  introduced  him  to  the  best  society  and  to 
remunerative  practice.  He  grew  rich,  kept  a  fine  villa  near  Madrid,  which  was  the 
scene  of  his  hospitalities  as  well  as  of  his  daily  work.      He  retained  his  office  at  court 


■ 


From  the  original. 


by  Goya. 


PORTRAIT    OF   GOYA. 


after  the  accession  of  Ferdinand  VII,  and  receiving  permission  to  retire  to  Bordeaux, 
spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life  there,  dying  in   1828. 

Goya  painted  a  little  in  every  style ;  even  the  Church  gave  him  commissions,  though 
his  own  natural  vein  lay  in  a  very  different  direction.  He  is  the  author  of  many  valu- 
able portraits — one  of  Charles  IV  and  Queen  Maria  Louisa ;  the  one  of  himself  on  this 
page  is  in  the  gallery  Madrazo  at  Seville ;  another,  of  two  dark-eyed  ladies  with  their 
mantillas,  and  two  gentlemen,  at  a  balcony,  engraved  on  page  201,  is  now  at  Madrid;  and 
that  of  the  Duchess  of  Alba,  in  a  black  lace  national  dress  of  Andalusia,  is  in  the  Louvre. 

It  was  as  a  satirist  that  Goya  showed  most  original  talent.  He  may  be  called  the 
Hogarth  of  Spain.  He  engraved  a  series  of  eighty  illustrations  of  Spanish  life,  which 
he  named  "Caprichos,"  or  "Whims,"  in  which  he  held  up  to  ridicule  every  kind  of  social 


too  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


absurdity.  Goya  also  illustrated  the  great  national  sport  of  the  bull-fight.  His  "Daughter- 
in-Law,"  which  is  engraved  by  M.  Hedouin  on  copper,  is  in  the  gallery  of  the  Marquis 
d'Isasi.  It  has  been  sometimes  supposed  that  this  portrait  of  his  son's  wife  was  a 
portrait  of  Charlotte  Corday.  It  has  not  the  slightest  resemblance  to  her;  although  it 
is  true  that  Goya  twice  attempted  the  subject  of  Marat's  assassination. 

One  or  two  members  of  the  young  Spanish  school  of  painting  have  made  their 
names  known.  The  chief  of  these  is  Fortuny,  a  native  of  Reuss,  in  Catalonia,  born  in 
1838,  and  prematurely  cut  off,  in  the  full  bloom  of  his  promise,  November  21,  1874. 
He  entered,  at  an  early  age,  the  Academy  of  Barcelona,  and  studied,  besides,  in  the 
school  of  Lorenzalez  and  of  Mila.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  young  Fortuny  gained  the 
prize  of  Rome,  and  was  about  to  start  for  Italy,  when  he  was  drawn  for  the  conscrip- 
tion, and  had  not  a  wealthy  family  stepped  forward  to  ransom  him  (his  own  family 
being  of  humble  rank),  the  young  painter  would  in  all  probability  have  been  lost  for 
ever  to  art  in  the  ranks  of  the  Spanish  army.  He  then  set  out  for  Rome,  in  company 
with  another  painter,  Armet,  a  fellow-countryman  of  his  own,  carrying  letters  of  intro- 
duction to  Overbeck.  Fortunately  (or  the  reverse)  the  fancy  of  the  youthful  prizeman 
had  been  so  taken  by  comic  drawings  of  Gavarni,  which  chanced  to  fall  in  his  way,  that 
he  never  visited  Overbeck.  His  talent  lay  in  another  direction.  A  group  of  young 
Spanish  artists  welcomed  him  to  Rome ;  he  passed  his  days  before  the  great  masters, 
and  his  evenings  at  the  Academy  di  Chigi,  studying  from  the  life,  working  at  costume-, 
crayon-  and  pen-drawing,  water-color,  and  etching  by  turns.  He  also  roamed  about  the 
neighborhood  of  die  city,  painting  landscape,  thus  making  himself  familiar  with  art  in 
ever)-  form. 

While  thus  engaged,  he  was  recalled  to  Spain  to  take  part  in  the  expedition  led  by 
General  Prim  against  Morocco.  Fortuny  was  attached  to  the  staff,  and  took  his  meals 
with  the  general,  who  made  a  great  deal  of  him.  He  went  about  everywhere  sketching, 
and  incurred  frequent  risks  by  venturing  too  far  from  the  Spanish  outposts.  He  wit- 
nessed the  battle  of  Tetuan,  and  on  the  conclusion  of  peace  returned  for  a  short  time 
to  Barcelona,  and  soon  afterwards  to  Rome.  His  best  work  at  this  time  was  done  for 
the  Barcelona  Academy,  in  executing  the  pictures  which  were  expected  from  their  prize- 
man as  a  return  for  his  pension.  In  1861  he  visited  Florence,  and  was  so  much 
impressed  by  several  modern  works  in  the  exhibition  then  open,  as  to  modify  his  original 
style,  and  enter  on  his  second  manner.  He  made  sketches  among  the  native  population 
in  the  Trastcvere,  a  suburb  of  Rome,  inhabited,  it  is  said,  by  a  race  of  the  purest 
Roman  blood. 

A  commission  had  been  sent  him  from  Barcelona  to  paint  the  battle  of  Tetuan,  and 
from  1862  it  engrossed  great  part  of  his  time.      He   made  studies  for  it,  and  sketched 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


201 


From  the  original. 


AT   THE    BALCONY. 


by  Goya. 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


its  various  parts,  and  even  undertook  a  journey  to  the  scene  of  the  battle,  to  make  his 
picture  a  transcript  of  reality.  All  this  conscientious  work  took  time;  his  Barcelona 
patrons  thought  him  remiss,  and  pressed  for  their  picture.  The  battle  was  already 
sketched  in ;  the  canvas  was  upwards  of  thirty  feet  long,  and  about  four  in  height. 
Nettled  by  the  reproaches  that  reached  him  from  Barcelona,  Fortuny  packed  up  all  the 
sketches,  studies,  water-color  drawings,  copies  of  figures,  and,  in  short,  everything  he 
had  done  by  way  of  preparation,  sent  them  off  to  Barcelona,  and  announced  that  he 
had  thrown  the  picture  aside.     In  fact  it  was  never  finished. 

Several  of  the  painter's  French  friends  in  Rome,  Francais,  Chenavard  and  others, 
had  long  urged  him  to  visit  Paris.  He  did  so  at  last  in  1866,  and  was  introduced  by 
his  friend  Zamacois  to  a  wealthy  amateur  of  art,  the  late  Mr.  Stewart,  of  New  York, 
who  gave  him  several  commissions.  He  remained  only  a  short  time  in  Paris,  and  then 
paid  a  long  visit  to  Madrid,  where  he  copied  several  works  of  Velasquez,  Ribera  and 
Goya.  A  few  months  later  he  married  a  daughter  of  Sefior  Madrazo,  director  of  the 
Musee,  who  had  treated  him  with  great  kindness. 

Fortuny  was  now  in  easy  circumstances,  and  led  a  delightful  life  among  his  friends 
and  acquaintances  in  Rome.  His  studio  and  apartments  were  richly  furnished  with  choice 
works  of  art,  among  which  he  and  his  wife  received  their  numerous  circle  of  painters 
and  amateurs.  Among  these  was  Henri  Regnault,  a  young  French  painter,  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  more  by-and-by.  In  1869  Fortuny  finished  his  celebrated  picture,  "The 
Circassian,"  engraved  on  page  203.  It  is  said  to  combine  all  the  freshness  of  a  sketch 
from  life,  with  the  finish  of  a  masterpiece — "a  study  by  Goya,"  says  another  critic, 
"retouched  and  recast  by  Meissonier."  It  was  originally  painted  for  Messrs.  Goupil,  of 
Paris,  and  afterwards  became  the  property  of  Madame  de  Cassin.  He  passed  the 
winter  of  1869  and  the  following  spring  among  the  art-circles  of  Paris,  and  at  work  in 
his  apartment  there. 

When  war  was  declared  with  Germany,  Fortuny  retired  to  Spain,  and  settled  at 
Granada,  in  an  ancient  palace  of  the  Moors,  working  under  an  awning  stretched  across 
a  corner  of  the  court.  At  this  time  he  made  the  acquaintance,  and  appreciated  the 
merit,  of  a  young  Spanish  painter,  Villegas,  of  Seville,  who  will  probably  become  better 
known  within  a  few  years.  At  the  end  of  two  years  Fortuny  once  more  took  up  his 
residence  in  Rome,  and  for  the  last  time.  In  1874  he  removed  from  an  apartment  to 
a  villa,  and  the  change  proved  fatal  to  him.  The  unwholesome  air  induced  fever,  which 
carried  him  off  after  a  few  days'  illness.  His  loss  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  rising  school 
of  Spanish  painters;  so  also  was  that  of  Eduardo  Zamacois,  who  died  at  Madrid  on 
the  14th  of  January,  1871,  whom  we  represent  by  an  etching,  "The  Royal  Favorite," 
exhibited  in   the   Salon,  1868,  which   is   full  of  comical   satire.      It   belongs  strictly  to  a 


MURILLO.    P1NXT 


L  .  STOCKS    SCULPT 


THE     INFANT     ST  JOKI, 


GF.BBIE    &.  BARRIE. 


SPANISH   SCHOOL. 


203 


From  the  original. 


by  Mariano  Fortuny. 


THE   CIRCASSIAN 


bygone  age,  when  kings  were  in  the  habit  of  keeping  dwarfs  for  their  amusement.  This 
particular  specimen  of  the  tribe  carries  his  pompous  arrogance  in  a  way  that  must  have 
rivaled  his  master's.     He  disdains  even  to  look  at  the  troop  of  courtiers  gathered  in  the 


*H 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


ante-chamber.  They  revenge  themselves  by  saluting  the  favorite  with  ironical  bows  and 
demonstrations  of  mock-deference,  expressed  in  various  ways  and  degrees.  A  little 
lap-dog  in  die  lower  corner  salutes,  in  a  similar  way,  the  sleepy,  well-fed  hound  that 
accompanies  this  caricature  of  royalty.  We  remarked  that  the  age  of  such  favoritism 
was  past  But,  unfortunately,  no  lapse  of  time  can  efface  stupid  presumption,  flattery 
and  servility.  The  pungent  satire  of  this  litde  picture,  therefore,  can  never  grow  out 
of  date. 

Zamacois  was  a  pupil  of  Meissonier.  His  earlier  style,  to  which  our  illustration, 
engraved  by  M.  Durand,  belongs,  has  been  somewhat  modified.  He  is  essentially  a 
painter  of  comedy,  and  will  probably  remain  so ;  but  several  of  his  later  pictures  evince 
a  tendency  to  exchange  its  broader  forms  for  a  more  subtle,  though  not  less  humorous, 
style  of  satire;  instead  of  a  shout  of  laughter,  he  sometimes  prefers  to  excite  a  smile. 
A  picture  of  his,  entided  "The  Good  Shepherd,"  will  illustrate  the  difference.  "It  repre- 
sents two  distinct  types  of  Roman  monastic  life,"  says  a  recent  French  critic:  "one  of 
them  is  that  of  a  thin,  hard,  cross  confessor,  whom  penitents  shun  with  terror;  the  other 
that  of  a  fat,  jolly  priest,  with  rosy  tint,  and  small  twinkling  eye,  his  vast  chest 
whispering  at  ease  under  his  flannel  robe;  complying  and  indulgent  as  regards  little 
peccadillos;  or,  as  they  say,  with  wide  sleeves.  He  gathers  about  his  tribunal  a  constant 
crowd  of  penitents,  who  carry  away  his  absolution  as  lightly  as  the  long  rod  of  the  good 
father  touches  their  garments."  Zamacois  first  appeared  in  the  Salon,  1867,  with  his 
•Buffoons  in  the  Sixteenth  Century."  "The  Royal  Favorite"  appeared  in  the  following 
year,  and  "The  Good  Shepherd"  in   1869.     He  died  at  Madrid,  January  14th,   1871. 


m 

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|HE  commencement  of  Art-history  in  France  is  traced  by  some  writers 
to  the  era  of  glass-staining,  which  attained  a  high  state  of  perfection 
in  mediaeval  France.  The  attempt  has,  no  doubt,  been  made  with  a 
[  pardonable  desire  to  assign  as  high  an  antiquity  as  possible  to  painting. 
Yet  the  rejoinder  is  obvious,  that  the  two  forms  of  Art  have  no  funda- 
mental connection;  each  must  stand  on  its  own  principles,  which  are  widely 
different ;  and  the  dignity  of  French  Art-history  is  not  really  promoted  by  confusing 
things  which  have  only  a  very  remote  relation  one  to  the  other. 

There  is  a  little  more  to  be  said  for  the  illuminators  of  manuscripts  as  the  fore- 
runners of  French  painting,  and  more  particularly  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
It  was  hardly  possible  that  even  this  humbler  form  of  Art  should  not  to  some  extent 
feel  the  influence  of  the  painters  both  of  Flanders  and  of  Italy.  The  result  was  work 
which,  if  inferior  to  that  of  both  countries  in  original  conception,  was  in  many  respects 
a  reflection  of  the  best  features  of  both.  At  the  head  of  one  of  those  schools  of 
illumination  was  Jean  Fouquet,  of  Tours,  court-painter  to  Louis  XI.  The  best  known  ex- 
ample of  the  other  is  the  Prayer  Book  (Heures)  of  Anne  of  Brittany.  An  excellent  sample 
of  Fouquet's  school  is  the  manuscript  of  a  French  translation  of  Josephus.  Nurherous 
other  manuscripts,  illuminated  in  the  same  style,  show  that  the  school  was  a  large  one. 


20S 


206  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  France  possessed  a  painter  in  the  miniature 
style  of  the  Van  Eycks,  in  Rene.  1  Hike  of  Anjou,  father  of  Queen  Margaret,  of  Tewkes- 
bury memory.  At  Aix.  the  cathedral  contains  a  triptych  painted  by  his  hand,  representing, 
in  the  centre  compartment,  Moses  surrounded  by  his  sheep,  and  in  presence  of  an  angel 
at  the  Burning  Bush.  In  the  centre  of  the  bush,  high  up  in  the  picture,  Christ  and 
his  Mother  are  shown.  Over  all,  in  a  cornice,  the  eternal  Father  appears,  holding  a 
cross-surmounted  orb  in  the  left  hand,  and  blessing  with  his  right.  An  inscription  runs 
beneath: — Qui  me  imenerit  invotht  vitam  ct  hauriet  salutcm  a  Domino.  On  the  wing 
opposite  the  spectator's  left  is  a  portrait  of  Rene  himself  kneeling  at  a  small  altar, 
assisted  by  St.  Maurice,  St.  Antony,  and  St.  Mary  Magdalene.  The  corresponding  wing 
is  occupied  by  Jeanne  de  Laval,  Rene's  second  wife,  in  a  similar  attitude,  in  presence 
of  St.  John,  St.  Katharine,  and  St.  Nicholas.  At  the  back  of  the  triptych  wings  the 
Annunciation  is  depicted ;  on  one  wing  the  archangel  Gabriel,  with  an  olive-branch, 
stands  under  a  canopy,  addressing  St.  Mary  on  the  opposite  wing,  who  bears  a  book, 
also  beneath  a  canopy. 

We  now  approach  the  actual  history  of  French  painting,  which  commences  in  the 
reign  of  Francis  1.  (151 5—1 547.)  That  splendor-loving  monarch  was  a  great  patron 
of  Art,  and  invited  several  painters  of  Italian  fame  to  visit  him  and  enrich  his  court 
with  their  works.  Primaticcio  of  Bologna,  Pacchiarotto  of  Siena,  Andrea  del  Sarto. 
Rosso,  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci  were  among  these.  The  last  died  in  France,  and.  as 
some  authors  report,  in  the  arms  of  Francis.  Benvenuto  Cellini  also  was  brought  to 
Paris  by  the  king  at  this  period. 

To  J r..\N  Cousin  and  the  three  Clouets  must  be  assigned  the  earliest  place  in  the 
Art  history  of  France.  Cousin,  who  flourished  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  II.  and  III.,  and 
of  Charles  IX.,  was  a  native  of  Soucy,  near  Sens.  His  birth  is  variously  stated  at  dates 
ranging  from  1 462-1 530.  Most  probably  it  may  be  fixed  in  the  closing  decade  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  He  pursued  many  distinct  branches  of  Art,  and  became  famous  as 
painter,  sculptor,  architect,  and  engraver.  He  also  worked  in  colored  glass,  much  of  which 
perished  in  the  Revolution.  All  that  seems  to  be  known  of  Cousin,  except  as  an  artist, 
is  that  he  left  behind  him  at  his  death  an  only  daughter,  Marie. 

A  few  years  before  the  birth  of  Cousin,  Jean  Clouet,  or  Cloet,  a  native  of  Brussels, 
and  an  artist,  removed  to  France;  and,  about  1460,  spent  some  time  in  Paris,  attached 
to  the  house  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  He  ultimately  settled  at  Tours,  where  he 
married,  ami  had  a  son,  Jehan,  who  was  destined  to  be  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
French  school.  Jehan  was  l>orn  about  14S5;  dying  in  1545.  His  cunning  pencil  attracted 
the  patronage  of  Francis  I.,  who,  in  1523,  appointed  him  royal  painter  in  ordinary,  and 
"varlct  de  chambre,"  at  a  yearly  salary  of  two  hundred  and  forty  francs.     The  title  and 


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FRENCH  SCHOOL. 


207 


office  of  "varlet"  had   nothing  of  a  menial  character  attached   to  it,  and  were   in  great 
request  among  men  of  birth  at  that  time. 

A  portrait  of  Francis  I.  by  his  hand  is  now  at  Florence.  The  king  is  on  horseback, 
in  armor,  wearing  a  flat  cap  with  a  plume.  The  king  sat  to  him  again,  and  was 
painted,  the  second  time,  out  of  armor,  in  a  doublet  of  grey  satin,  and  with  a  head- 
dress similar  to  the  other.  Jean  Clouet's  work  combines  simplicity  and  finish  in  a  high 
degree.  Strange  to  say,  excepting  these  portraits,  there  is  no  other  example  of  his 
work  known  to  exist.  As  regards  his  son  Francois  Clouet,  surnamed  Jeannet,  the  case 
is  very  different.  His  portraits  are  numerous.  He  was  born  about  15 10,  and  lived  in 
great   fame  till  1572.     At  his  father's  death,  he  was   appointed   to  succeed   him  in  the 


E.  FROMENTIN. 


F.  DAVID. 


double  office  of  "varlet  de  chambre"  and  of  painter  to  the  king.  When  Francis  died, 
in  1547,  Clouet  was  officially  employed  to  take  a  cast  of  the  royal  features,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  an  effigy;  a  ceremony  which  is  now  generally  superseded  in  favor 
of  the  court-photographer. 

In  Simon  Vouet,  whose  life  is  the  next  landmark  in  our  history,  the  French  school 
resumed  its  studies  in  that  of  the  great  Italian  masters.  Born  in  Paris,  January  9,  1 590, 
he  was  trained  to  Art  by  his  father,  Laurent,  himself  but  an  indifferent  artist.  Vouet, 
the  son,  was  commissioned  to  follow  a  lady  of  rank  to  England,  whither  she  had  fled, 
and  to  paint  her  portrait.  He  was  well  received  in  London,  and  returned  to  Paris  with 
increased  reputation.  He  next  visited  Constantinople,  in  the  train  of  the  French 
Ambassador,  de  Harlay  de  Saucy,  and  made  his  art  of  portrait-painting  profitable.  At 
the  audience,  he  managed  to  fix  the  features  of  Achmet  I.  in  his  memory,  to  such  good 
purpose  that  he  completed  the  portrait  at  his  leisure;  and,  in  consequence  of  his  success, 


2o8  MASTERPIECES    Ot-    EUROPEAN   ART. 


obtained  many  commissions.  Tiring,  at  length,  of  his  mode  of  life  at  the  Ottoman  court, 
Vouet  traveled  to  Venice,  and.  probably  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  saw  pictures  better 
than  his  own.  Vouet  not  unfrcquently  neglected  perspective  (as  greater  artists  than  he 
have  done)  and  chiaroscuro.  Great  ease  of  conception  and  rapidity  of  execution  were 
among  his  gifl 

Vou«t  died  in  Paris,  June  30.  1649.  He  left  behind  him  a  school  of  Art,  in  his 
numerous  pupils,  many  of  whom  far  surpassed  his  own  performance.  Vouet's  later 
years  were  embittered  by  jealousy  of  Poussin,  whom  Louis  XIII.  had  also  recalled  to 
France. 

One  need  be  at  no  loss  to  understand  where  his  pupil,  Le  Sueur,  acquired  his 
Italian  manner,  although  he  never  crossed  the  frontier  of  his  native  country,  when  one 
knows  that  in  Vouet's  studio  he  must  have  had  before  his  eyes  his  master's  Italian 
copies  and  sketches.  Eustache  Le  Shir,  who  next  passes  in  review,  was  a  native  of 
Paris,  born  in  1617,  and  dying  there,  in  1655.  Eustache,  evincing  a  turn  for  Art,  was 
placed  in  Vouet's  studio  for  instruction.  One  of  his  fellow  pupils,  Le  Brun,  became,  a 
few  years  later,  his  rival.  Both  of  them  were  noticed  by  Poussin,  and  received  lessons 
from  him  also.  When  Poussin  returned  to  Italy,  Le  Brun  went  with  him;  Le  Sueur 
corresponded  with  him,  and  deeply  studied  the  master's  various  hints.  His  own  taste 
drew  him  to  any  sketches  of  Italian  pictures  that  he  could  find.  He  studied  antique 
figures  and  bas-relief,  yet  managed  to  secure  all  that  was  noble  in  them,  while  dropping 
the  dry,  hard,  and  stiff:  an  excellence  which  is  not  always  found  in  French  painters. 
Yet  he  was  by  no  means  restricted  to  such  models.  He  gathered  from  modern  works 
of  Art  the  grace  and  ease  of  nature,  instinctively  avoiding  their  frequent  imperfections 
of  feebleness  and  littleness.  It  has  been  suggested  that  Le  Sueur's  never  having  visited 
Italy  must  have  been  a  positive  advantage  to  him,  leaving  him  always  original  and 
simple  in  style.  He  certainly  owes  less  to  any  master  than  perhaps  any  painter  ever 
did.  We  shall  look  in  vain,  in  the  works  of  Vouet  or  of  Poussin,  his  instructors,  for 
the  secret  of  his  remarkable  pathos  as  a  painter.  He  has  been  called  the  French 
Raphael,  but  by  comparison  with  other  artists  of  his  school,  rather  than  from  any  near 
approach  to  the  matchless  compositions  of  the  painter  of  Urbino. 

When  Vouet  perceived  that  his  pupil  could  learn  nothing  more  from  him,  he 
retained  Le  Sueur's  services  as  an  assistant.  The  young  painter  married,  in  1642, 
Genevieve  Gousse;  a  son  and  a  daughter  were  the  issue  of  the  marriage.  Exigencies 
of  family  life  obliged  him  to  accept  any  kind  of  work  offered  to  him;  and  much  of  it 
was  consequently  far  beneath  his  talent.  He  would  design  and  engrave  frontispieces 
for  books,  medals  for  nuns,  or  pictures  illustrating  lives  of  saints.  In  fact,  his  sympathy 
with  religious  Art  stood   much   in  the  way  of  his  advancement.     It  was  out  of  all   har- 


SIMPLICITY. 


GKBB1E   &  BARRIE. 


&j?2 


FRENCH   SCHOOL. 


209 


mony  with  the  spirit  of  his  age  and  his  country.  Hence  he  was  slow  to  obtain  patron- 
age; and,  which  is  a  matter  of  permanent  regret,  he  exercised  no  influence  whatever 
on  the  contemporary  Art  of  France. 

His  undoubted  merit,  and  the  recommendation  of  Vouet,  at  last  brought  Le  Sueur 
into  notice,  notwithstanding  his  want  of  ambition.  Cardinal  Richelieu  divided  his  com- 
missions between  master  and  pupil.  Le  Sueur  produced  one  of  his  great  works — "St. 
Paul  healing  the  sick  by  imposition  of  hands."  His  attainments  as  an  artist  were  re- 
warded  by  admission    into   the  Civil    Service;    as    inspector  of    receipts  at  the    Barriere 


From  thi 


THE   DEATH   OF  SOCRATES. 


by  F.  D 


d'Ourcines.  The  appointment  no  doubt  added  to  his  means  of  livelihood;  it  also  led 
indirectly  to  a  crisis  in  his  life,  which  again  suggested  the  most  extensive  work  of  his 
pencil.  One  day  a  gentleman  disputed  the  Civil  servant's  legal  authority;  high  words 
followed,  ending  in  a  challenge.  In  the  subsequent  duel,  Le  Sueur  killed  his  adversary, 
and  presently  sought  an  asylum  in  the  Carthusian  monastery  (Chartreux)  of  the  Luxem- 
bourg. While  he  remained  there,  until  the  affair  should  blow  over,  he  occupied  his 
leisure  in  painting  a  series  of  frescoes  in  the  cloisters,  illustrating  the  life  of  St.  Bruno, 
the  great  founder  of  the  Carthusian  order.  A  copy  was  afterwards  taken  on  canvas,  and 
another,  by  Le  Sueur  himself,  on  wood.     The  series    includes    twenty-two  subjects,'  and, 


,,o  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


as  a  whole,  is  reckoned  the  most  important  work  produced  by  the  master.  They  may 
now  be  studied  in  the  Louvre. 

He  never  opened  a  school,  but  his  studio  was  attended  by  a  few  pupils.  After 
the  death  of  his  wife,  his  gentle  spirit  seems  to  have  closed  his  account  with  life.  He 
again  retired  to  his  beloved  Carthusian  monastery,  where  he  died  at  the  premature  age 
of  3S.     His  remains  were  interred  in  the  church  of  St  Etienne  du   Mont 

Charles  Lk  Brun,  the  fellow- pupil  and  successful  rival  of  Le  Sueur,  was  born  in 
Paris,  March  22,  1619.  Mis  early  love  of  Art  must  have  been  hereditary;  his  father 
being  a  sculptor  of  no  mean  reputation.  When  barely  ten  years  of  age,  Charles  began 
to  take  lessons  from  Perrier,  surnamed  Le  Bourguignon,  but  soon  left  him  for  Vouet, 
in  whose  studio  he  made  such  rapid  progress,  that,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  painted 
|x>rtraits  of  his  father  and  of  his  uncle.  About  the  same  time  he  drew  with  a  pen  on 
vellum  a  sketch  of  Louis  XIII.,  on  a  field  of  battle.  The  story  of  this  sketch  lets  us 
a  little  into  the  secret  of  the  artist's  success  in  life,  which  he  owed  quite  as  much  to 
his  politic  tact  as  to  his  talent.  The  juvenile  work  of  art  was  presented  to  Seguier, 
then  chancellor  of  France,  who  took  the  precocious  youth  under  his  patronage,  and 
lodged  him  in  his  palace.  With  an  eye,  no  doubt,  to  yet  higher  patronage,  Le  Brun 
executed  an  allegorical  picture  of  Cardinal  Richelieu's  career  of  success;  in  which  sly 
allusion  was  made  to  his  name,  by  laying  the  scene  in  a  splendid  palace  (Richelieu). 
The  Cardinal  could  hardly  avoid  giving  him,  in  return,  a  commission  for  three  mytho- 
logical subjects,  for  the  decoration  of  his,  palace,  where  they  long  remained  after  its 
name  had  been  changed  to  the  Palais  Royal.  These  pictures  are  said  to  have  received 
tl)»-  approbation  of  Poussin. 

When    this    last    artist    returned,    in    1642,    to    Rome,    he   took    Le  Brun   with   him, 

lier  paying  the  expenses  of  the  younger  painter  for  four  years.  After  a  few  years' 
study  in  Italy,  Le  Brun  returned  to  Paris,  1648.  Valuable  commissions  were  soon 
offered  tlv  rising  artist;  Mazarin  presented  him  to  Louis  XIV.,  and  Le  Brun's  fortune 
was  made.  In  1662,  Colbert  made  him  first  painter  to  the  king,  and  procured  for  him 
a  patent  of  nobility;  he  was  named  director  of  the  Gobelins  manufacture;  and,  in  turn, 
rector  and  chancellor  of  the  Academy  of  Painting.  The  Academy  of  St.  Luke  at  Rome, 
elected  him,  in  his  absence,  a  member  of  their  body.  Fourteen  of  his  best  years  were 
spent  in  decorating  the  new  palace  at  Versailles.  There  he  traced  the  history  of  his 
time,  from  the  peace  of  the  Pyrenees  to  that  of  Nimeguen.  At  the  Louvre,  he  painted 
the  great  Victories  of  Alexander. 

In  1666,  Le  Brun  took  an  active  part  in  the  foundation  of  a  French  School  of 
Art  in  Rome,  for  the  education,  at  the  public  expense,  of  students  who  had  proved 
tluir   proficiency  by  gaining    the   first   prize   at   the   annual   competition    in    Paris.     The 


< 

;'■■- 


n3 
< 


FRENCH   SCHOOL. 


211 


influence  of  that  institution  has  done,  and  still  does,  much  for  French  Art.  The  Villa 
Medici,  on  the  Fincian,  where  the  school  has  long  been  established,  is  the  object  for 
which  every  ambitious  Art-pupil  in  Paris  works,  and  about  which  he  dreams,  sometimes 
for  years  before  attaining  the  summit  of  his  desires. 

At  the  death  of  Colbert,  in  1683,  a  bitter  disappointment  awaited  Le  Brun.  The 
new  favorite,  Louvois,  superseded  him  in  all  his  appointments  in  the  royal  palaces,  in 
favor  of  Mignard,  a  rival  painter.  From  that  time,  Le  Brun,  in  deep  mortification, 
retired  from  the  practice  of  his  art,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Montmorency.     Later, 


From  the  original  painting, 


by  Ary  Scheffer. 


CHRISTUS    CONSOLATOR. 


feeling  his  end  approaching,  he  had  himself  conveyed  to  the  Gobelins,  where  he  died, 
February  10,  1690.  His  body  was  buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Nicolas  du  Chardonnet; 
and  his  widow  erected  a  superb  monument  to  his  memory. 

Before  leaving  the  school  of  Vouet,  some  notice  is  due  to  another  of  his  pupils, 
Pierre  Mignard,  and  to  Pierre's  elder  brother,  Nicolas.  Both  were  natives  of  Troyes, 
in  Champagne.  Nicolas  was  born,  1605,  or  1608;  Pierre,  1610.  The  elder  brother  is 
distinguished  from  the  younger  by  the  affix  of  Paine,  or  a" Avignon,  to  his  name.  He 
never  attained  to  the  popularity  of  his  brother;  yet  his  knowledge  of  Art  was  consider- 
able;   and  many  of  his  works  may  be  met  with  in  European  Galleries. 


aia  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

Nicolas'  younger  brother.  Pierre,  named  for  distinction-sake  le  Rotnain,  was  origi- 
nally destined  by  his  father  to  the  study  of  medicine.  His  bent  for  Art,  however,  was 
too  strong,  and  he  entered  the  studio  of  Boucher,  a  Bourges  painter  and  engraver. 
One  year  of  this  artist's  instructions  sufficed  for  young  Mignard;  and  he  presently  re- 
paired to  Fontainebleau,  where  he  passed  a  couple  of  years  in  studying  the  Italian  masters 
in  that  once  famous  collection.  His  next  change  was  to  Paris;  and  in  Vouet's  studio 
Pierre  practised  his  art  to  his  master's  entire  satisfaction:  so  much  so,  that  wishing  to 
keep  the  youth  always  with  him,  Youet  procured  him  employment  and  proposed  to  his 
pupil  to  marry  his  daughter.  But  Mignard  longed  to  visit  Italy,  and  his  master's  pleas- 
ant offer  would  have  probably  forever  deprived  him  of  the  great  opportunity  he  desired. 
March,  1635,  he  set  out  for  Rome,  then  much  frequented  by  French  artist's  and  men  of 
letters.  At  the  age  of  47  Mignard  had  passed  22  years  in  Italy.  His  wife  was  a  Roman; 
anil  he  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  living  masters  of  the  Italian  school.  But 
the  tempting  invitation  of  the  French  king,  and  Mazarin's  promise  of  lucrative  employ- 
ment, overcame  his  attachment  to  his  second  home;  and  Mignard  revisited  France,  but 
at  first  alone,  leaving,  for  the  time,  his  wife  and  family  in  Rome.  His  journey  was 
arrested  for  several  months  by  serious  illness,  in  the  house  of  his  brother  Nicolas,  at 
Avignon.  It  was  here  that  Mignard  and  Moliere  first  made  acquaintance,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  close  and  lasting  friendship. 

The  painter  reached  Fontainebleau  in  September,  1658,  and,  after  his  introduction 
to  the  court,  began  to  paint  the  portrait  of  the  Infanta  of  Spain,  Maria-Teresa,  the 
fiancee  of  young  Louis  XIY.  His  success  at  once  established  his  reputation.  Le  Brun 
was  at  that  time  the  official  painter  of  royalty;  and  a  keen  rivalry  commenced  between 
the  artists.  Mignard,  for  the  moment,  became  the  fashion;  and  about  this  period  the 
queen-mother  employed  him  to  paint  the  dome  at  Val-de-grSce.  The  work,  though  now 
injured  by  time,  attests  the  learning,  if  not  the  genius,  of  the  painter.  When  it  was 
completed,  in  1664.  Mignard  sent  for  his  family,  and  settled  for  life  in  France.  His 
rivalry  with  Le  Brun  lasted  till  the  death  of  Colbert,  1683;  when,  at  the  instigation  of 
his  successor.  Louvois,  Mignard  was  appointed  to  the  official  post  till  then  held  by  Le 
Brun.  His  first  work  after  this  was  the  decoration  of  some  smaller  apartments  at 
Versailles.     In  June,  1687.  Mignard  was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  noble. 

At  the  death  of  Le  Brun,  1690,  the  new  court-painter  was  admitted,  by  royal  command, 
into  the  Academy  of  Painting,  an  honor  he  had  hitherto  refused,  not  choosing  to  occupy  a 
subordinate  place.  His  promotion  through  all  the  grades  at  one  sitting  gave  great  offence. 
His  diploma  picture  was  a  copy,  in  white  and  grey,  of  the  Val-de-grace  dome.  From  this 
time,  Mignard  rested  on  his  laurels,  painting  only  sacred  subjects.  At  his  death,  May 
1 3.  1695,  ne  h*d  just  finished  his  plans  for  painting  the  dome  of  the  Invalides,  in  Paris. 


F    OERARJD.  PI1IX 


C.  ARMYTAOE.  SCULPT 


ejli&arih 


FRENCH   SCHOOL. 


213 


Nicolas  Poussin,  a  member  of  a  good  Norman  family,  was  born,  1594,  at  Grand 
Andely,  close  to  the  historical  Chateau  Gaillard.  He  studied  art  under  Varin,  a  master 
not  otherwise  distinguished.  Engravings  after  Raphael  and  Giulio  Romano  did  more, 
probably,  to  educate  his  eye  and  hand  in  drawing  than  all  Varin's  instructions.  The 
young   painter  made  several   unsuccessful  efforts  to  reach  Rome.     He  gained   his    point 


From  the  original  fainting 


by  /•'.  Desportes. 


THE    POINTERS. 


at  last,  when  he  was  thirty  years  of  age.  Marino,  an  Italian  poet,  whose  acquaintance 
Poussin  had  casually  made,  presented  him  to  Cardinal  Barberini.  But  Marino,  soon 
after,  dying,  and  the  Cardinal  accepting  a  mission  to  Spain,  the  painter  was  left  to  his 
own  resources  in  a  strange  city,  and  sold  his  works  for  a  trifle  to  gain  his  daily  bread. 
Titian  and  Domenichino  were  the  masters  he  chiefly  affected.  Poussin's  style,  however, 
owed  little  or  nothing  to  either  of  those  masters.  It  was  formed  much  more  on  the 
antique,  as  exhibited  in  ancient  statues.  Barberini's  return  to  Rome  relieved  the  artist 
from  the    pressure  of  want.     Commissions  were  soon  entrusted  to  him,  and   his  reputa- 


214  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


tion  was  established.  In  1629,  he  married  Anna  Dughet,  daughter  of  a  French  family 
long  settled  in  Rome.  Poussin  had  been  set  upon  and  wounded  by  soldiers  at  night, 
and  had  found  refuge  with  this  family;  and,  as  a  suitable  conclusion  to  the  adventure, 
the  patient  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  his  host,  and  was  eventually  married  to  her. 
His  brother-in-law,  Gaspar,  a  good  landscape  painter,  was  taken  into  Poussin's  friend- 
ship, and  learned  much  from  him  in  his  art.  Finally  he  adopted  Poussin's  name,  and  is 
n>>w  known  as  Gaspar  Poussin.  His  connection,  however,  with  the  French  school  is 
sufficiently  remote;  yet  he  is  sometimes  assigned  a  place  in  it,  as  in  the  National 
( iallery,  in  London. 

Ten  years  later,  Nicolas  Poussin  was  invited  to  France  by  Louis  XIII.,  and  went, 
accompanied  by  his  brother-in-law.  Cardinal  Richelieu  introduced  him  to  the  king,  and 
he  was  received  with  due  honor  and  distinction.  Vouet  was  devoured  with  envy  when 
Poussin  was  named  first  painter  in  ordinary  to  the  king,  a  title  which  Vouet  himself 
also  bore.  Poussin  returned  to  Italy  in  the  following  year,  intending  to  bring  back  his 
family  and  settle  in  Paris.  But  Richelieu  dying  in  a  few  months,  and  Louis  XIII.  the 
year  after,  he  never  executed  his  purpose,  but  remained  in  Rome  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  In  1664,  Anna,  his  wife,  died;  and  on  the  19th  of  November,  in  the  year  following, 
Poussin  himself  expired. 

Poussin  stamped  a  character  on  the  Art  of  France  which  may  be  said  to  have  lasted 
till  this  day.  His  style,  based  in  some  degree  on  a  confusion  of  the  capabilities  of 
sculpture  and  painting,  exhibits  statuesque  forms,  fine  drawing,  and  the  composition  of 
a  bas-relief,  clothed  in  unpleasing*  color.  In  fact,  a  novice  in  the  school  would  be 
astonished  to  be  led  up  to  one  of  Poussin's  dim,  reddish-brown  pictures  of  dancing 
Bacchanals,  and  bidden  to  admire  the  work  of  his  master.  Yet  his  surprise  would  give 
way  to  pleasure  as  the  admirable  drawing  of  the  figures  broke  upon  him,  and  their 
grouping  together,  allowance  being  always  made  for  the  sculpturesque  tendency  of  the 
painter's  composition.  The  life  and  movement  of  the  dancing  groups,  the  longer  they 
are  cxamin<-.|.  the  more  they  increase  the  student's  admiration  of  the  master's  genius. 
And  if  he  turns  to  the  work  which  we  have  engraved  on  steel,  "The  Shepherds  of 
Arcadia.''  he  will  confess  that  probably  never  were  the  human  forms  painted  with  more 
perfect  drawing,  and  more  exquisite  refinement,  than  the  Shepherds.  The  unpleasant 
color  predominating  in  tliis  master's  works  is  said  to  be  an  accident  of  time;  the 
darkened  ground  on  which  he  painted  is  now  seen  through  the  lights,  and  affects  the 
tone  of  the  local  colors. 

Claude,  surnamed  Lorraine,  from  the  province  of  his  birth,  an  eminent  painter  of 
landscape,  was  born  at  Chamagne,  in  1600,  and  died  in  Rome,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 
His   parents  were  very  poor,  and   little  Claude   is   said   to  have   been  apprenticed   to  a 


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FRENCH  SCHOOL. 


215 


pastry-cook.     His  elder  brother  was  a  wood-carver,  and    lived  at    Friburg.     A  traveling 
dealer   persuaded    the    brother   to   let  Claude   go  with  him    to    Rome,  and    support   him 


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while  there  till   he  could  earn  his  livelihood.     So  he  went  to  Italy:   first  to  Naples,  and 

thence  to  Rome,  where,  in  the  course  of  years,  he  grew  famous  among  his  contemporaries. 

The  Art-world  of  his  time   recognized    in  him  the  first  of  landscape  painters.     His 


ai6  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


pictures  were  an  idealized  transcript  of  Nature;  his  coloring  was  charming.  No  one 
before  him.  and  perhaps  only  one  sine*-,  ever  painted  air  in  its  relation  to  distance  as 
Claude  painted  it.  If  the  fame  of  Claude  suffered  somewhat  from  the  dust  of  controversy 
that  obscured  it  some  thirty  years  ago.  calmer  judgment  must  admit  that  as  an  artist, 
on  the  whole,  he  is  not  inferior  to  Turner.  He  was  certainly  not  inferior  to  him  in  the 
patient  attention  he  gave  to  the  ever  varying  face  of  Nature;  watching,  often  from  dawn 
till  ni^ht,  we  are  told,  the  successive  phenomena  of  light  and  cloud,  and  wind  and  air. 
His  "Sylvan  Calm,"  so  successfully  engraved  on  steel,  will  give  our  readers  a  better 
idea  than  our  words  of  the  ability  of  this  master  of  landscape,  regarding  which,  a  recent 
writer  cm  Art  says:  "As  for  the  landscapes  themselves,  no  language  could  describe  the 
brilliancy  of  the  sky,  the  beauty  of  the  earth,  the  scientific  aerial  perspective,  the  happy 
contrast  of  light  and  shadow,  the  majesty  of  the  whole,  in  short,  everything  that  can 
delight  the  eye."  "Claude  Lorraine,"  wrote  Goethe,  "knew  the  material  world  thoroughly. 
even  to  the  slightest  detail,  and  he  used  it  as  a  means  of  expressing  the  world  in  his 
own  soul." 

Among  artists  living  into  the  last  century,  but  born  in  the  previous  one,  may  be 
enumerated  La  and  JoUVlNET,  both  of  them  Academicians,  the  latter  a  member  of 

a  distinguished  Rouen  family  of  painters.  Lemoine,  another  of  this  class,  was  the  son 
of  poor  parents,  lwrn  in  Paris,  1688,  who  rose  to  be  a  member  of  the  Academy,  and 
an  historical  painter  of  no  mean  order.  If  size  of  work  could  insure  distinction,  Lemoine 
might  l>oast  that  he  painted  the  largest  picture  probably  ever  executed  in  the  world — 
the  ceiling  of  the  Salon  d'Hercule,  at  Versailles.  This  vast  surface  measured  sixty-four 
feet  in  length,  fifty-four  in  width,  and  nearly  nine  in  depth;  all  in  one  sweep,  without 
any  architectural  feature  to  divide  it.  Lemoine  took  upwards  of  four  years  to  fill  this 
hollow  space  with  some  forty  life-size  figures  in  oil.  His,  too,  is  the  less  admirable 
distinction  of  marking  the  earliest  decided  decline  of  the  first  period  of  French  Art. 
His  style  of  composition  and  execution  evinced  the  corrupt  influence  of  all  the  accumu- 
lating falsities  and  affectations  of  the  later  Louises  and  their  courts.  He  perished  by 
his  own  hand  in  1737. 

Watteau,  the  painter  of  fetes  and  ladies'  costumes  ami  manners,  was  himself  a  sign 
of  a  period  of  decadence  in  Art ;  more,  perhaps,  on  account  of  his  unvarying  choice  of 
subject  than  of  his  method  of  treating  it.  Only  to  a  careless  and  superficial  society  is 
life  nothing  but  holidays  and  merriment,  and  full-dress  and  flirtation.  Yet  Watteau's 
style  is  in  itself  so  unique,  so  unrivaled,  although  a  frivolous  one,  as  to  demand  special 
notice.  A\t<>ink  W.vrrEAU,  the  son  of  a  master-tiler  at  Valenciennes,  was  born  October 
io.  1684.  He  is  found,  when  still  a  youth,  in  Paris,  engaged  in  decorating  the  Opera. 
His  employers  and   he  quarreled   in  a  few  months,  and   the  young  artist  had  to  make 


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FRENCH   SCHOOL. 


217 


sketches  and  small  paintings,  which  he  sold  for  sums  varying  from  twenty  francs  down 
to  six.  A  brother-artist  detected  his  talent,  lodged  him  in  his  house,  and  encouraged 
him  to  persevere.  In  1709  he  gained  the  second  prize  of  Rome.  Perhaps  out  of 
disappointment,  he  went  back  to  his  native  town,  to  pursue  his  studies  in  private. 
By-and-by  he  exhibited    two  pictures  in  Paris.     Lafosse,  then  Director  of  the  Academy, 


From  the  original  painting, 


by  Paul  Delaroche. 


FAME— CENTRAL  FIGURE  OF  THE  HEMICYCLE. 


was  so  much  struck  by  them  as  to  seek  an  interview  with  the  artist.  Young  Watteau 
communicated  to  him  his  eager  wish  to  perfect  himself  in  Rome.  Lafosse  assured  him 
he  had  already  as  much  knowledge  of  Art  as  any  of  them,  and  bade  him  stand  for  the 
Academy.  He  did  so;  the  other  candidates  retired,  and  he  was  elected,  171 7.  His 
diploma-picture  was  the  "Embarkation  for  the  Island  of  Cythera,"  now  in  the  Louvre, 
and  the  only  example  of  this  artist  it  possesses. 

Three  years  later,  Watteau  made  a  tour  in  England.  His  health  beginning  to  fail, 
he  retired  to  Nogent-sur-Marne,  near  Paris,  and  died  there,  July  18,  1721,  bequeathing 
all   his   pictures   and    sketches  to  four  of  his  friends,  who  paid  his  debts  and  erected  a 


2l8  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


funeral  monument.  We  might  have  expected  that  a  painter  of  nothing  but  festivals 
and  brightness  should  be  himself  bright  and  buoyant.  On  the  contrary,  his  character 
was  an  unsettled  and  a  melancholy  one.  Sometimes  a  grim  humor  betrays  itself  in  his 
work,  as  in  the  picture  representing  a  procession  of  doctors,  apothecaries,  and  their 
patients,  moving  in  pairs  to  the  churchyard.  When  he  wanted  a  particularly  jovial  face, 
he  always  painted  that  of  the  cure  of  Nogent,  whom  the  artist  often  saw.  There  is  a 
story  of  his  almost  involuntarily  complaining  of  the  ugliness  of  the  crucifix  presented  to 
his  lips,  in  the  closing  moments  of  his  life,  by  his  friend  the  merry  cure. 

The  national  collection  at  Berlin  has  two  fine  Watteaux,  representing  the  Pleasures 
of  French  Comedy  and  of  Italian  respectively.  The  Russian  Hermitage  at  St.  Petersburg, 
of  which  gallery  of  art  we  give  an  engraving  on  page  215,  has  three;  one  of  them  a 
religious  picture  of  the  "Holy  Family"  in  a  landscape.  Dresden,  Munich,  Madrid,  each 
possesses  several  of  his  works.  Sir  R.  Wallace  is  the  owner  of  eleven.  The  gallery  at 
Dulwich  has  a  "Fete-Champetre,"  and  a  "  Val-Champetre."  The  sparkling  delicacy  of  pencil 
and  variety  of  fancy  he  has  displayed  in  these  subjects  have  lent  them  a  certain  value. 

Francis  Desportes  was  born  at  Champigneul,  in  1661.  He  studied  under  Bernaert, 
a  pupil  of  Snyders,  but  Bernaert  died  before  Desportes  had  made  much  progress;  but 
without  any  further  instruction  he  applied  himself  with  great  assiduity  to  the  study  of 
nature  and  animals.  An  example  of  his  style  is  engraved  on  page  213;  it  is  copied 
from  the  original  now  in  Versailles.  He  rose  to  great  eminence  in  the  branch  he 
made  his  particular  study,  and  was  principally  employed  by  Louis  XIV,  who  appointed 
him  his  painter  and  gave  him  a  pension.  In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
he  went  to  England  with  the  French  ambassador,  the  Due  d'Aumont,  where  he  received 
many  commissions  from  the  nobility.     He  died  in  Paris,  in  1743. 

Martin  Freminet  was  born  at  Paris,  in  1567.  After  a  long  sojourn  in  Italy,  he  brought 
back  with  him  the  taste  which  prevailed  there  at  the  close  of  the  great  age,  a  little 
before  the  foundation  of  the  Carracci  School.  He  was  eminent  for  his  ostentatious 
display  of  anatomy  and  his  mania  for  foreshortening,  of  which  we  have  engraved  an 
excellent  example,  the  "St.  John."  on  page  219.  He  was  court  painter  to  Henry  IV.. 
who  commissioned  him  to  decorate  the  ceiling  of  the  chapel  at  Fontainebleau.  Freminet 
died  at  Paris,  in   1619. 

Jl  w  BaptistE  Greuze  was  born  in  1726,  at  Tournus,  near  Macon,  in  Burgundy. 
His  father,  in  the  usual  course  of  things,  did  his  best  to  divert  the  bent  of  his  son's 
mind  from  Art;  and  with  the  usual  want  of  success.  The  contest  had  become  serious, 
when  Grandon.  a  portrait  painter  of  Lyons,  on  his  way  through  Tournus,  happening  to 
witness  a  scene  between  father  and  son.  persuaded  the  father  to  trust  young  Greuze 
with  him  to  learn  painting.     Greuze  owed    him  the  secret  of  his  superiority  in  painting 


\ 


miiiiim 


HORACE     VERNET< 


FRENCH    SCHOOL. 


219 


the  heads  of  young  children  and  of  old  men.  When  the  master  removed  to  Paris,  the 
pupil  followed  him,  and  settled  there.  To  his  "Blind  Man  Deceived"  he  owed  his  admis- 
sion into  the  Academy  as  an  associate.  His  works  exhibited  in  the  annual  Salon 
became  the  fashion  as  the  most  recent  novelty.  There  were  detractors,  however,  who 
gratified   their  envy  by  repeating   that   the   artist's   style   was   trivial,   and   betrayed   his 


From  the  original  painting, 


by  Martin  Freminet. 


ST.  JOHN. 


ignorance  of  the  great  masters  of  painting.  Greuze  was  not  proof  against  their  ill- 
nature,  and  undertook  a  journey  to  Rome,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  better  method 
of  coloring  and  a  little  more  elevation  and  grace  of  style.  After  the  Revolution  he 
sent  a  few  portraits  to  an  exhibition  of  living  artists;  but  his  best  days  were  then  past. 
He  died  March  21,   1805. 

Greuze  was  inspired  neither  by  mythology  nor  by  history  in  his  choice  of  subjects. 
His  field  was  chiefly  domestic  and   rural    life,  in    its  attractive  and   sometimes  in   its  re- 


jjo  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


pulsivc  aspect.  "The  Father's  Curse,"  and  "The  Son  Punished,"  are  examples  of  the  latter. 
Of  a  pleasanter  class  may  be  named  "Simplicity,"  of  which  we  present  an  engraving  on 
steel.— this  is  generally  considered  the  artist's  best  work:  "Twelfth  Cake,"  "The  Broken 
Pitcher."  "The  Village  Bride."  The  last  two  are  in  the  Louvre,  and  are  greatly  prized. 
The  style  of  this  painter  was  for  a  while  discredited  by  the  classical  taste  introduced  by 
David  and  his  school,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  But  bigotries  in  Art  do  not  last  for- 
ever, and  Greuze  has  fully  recovered  his  former  popularity  among  lovers  of  nature,  if 
we  may  judge  by  the  prices  his  works  command.  Thus,  "The  Village  Bride"  was  bought 
for  the  Louvre  for  16,650  francs;  and  "A  Young  Girl  holding  a  Dove,"  sold,  in  1847,  for 
35,000  francs. 

Jacques  Louis  David  marks  an  epoch  in  French  Art  He  was  a  native  of  Paris, 
born  August  31,  1748.  After  the  early  death  of  his  father  in.  a  duel,  an  uncle  brought 
up  young  David  as  his  own.  At  the  College  des  Quatre  Nations,  where  he  was  educated, 
his  mouth  was  injured  by  a  stone  thrown  at  him,  and,  through  life,  his  speech  was 
impeded  in  consequence.  The  future  first  painter  of  France  used  to  scribble  his  school 
books  over  with  sketches,  like  many  other  idlers  who  never  grow  to  be  painters  at  all. 
\\ 'c  may  presume,  however,  that  young  David's  caricatures  were  of  more  than  average 
merit,  as  one  of  his  masters  had  foresight  enough  to  offer  him  a  new  copy  for  the  boy's 
scribbled  book;  and,  ■when  David  grew  famous,  was  able  to  show  him  the  volume  and 
justify  his  own  prescience. 

According  to  the  regular  course  of  study,  in  those  days,  David  competed  for  the 
prize  of  Rome,  when  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age;  but  he  had  to  renew  the  contest 
no  fewer  than  four  times  before  his  perseverance  was  rewarded  by  success.  After  the 
fourth  defeat  he  was  so  disgusted,  we  learn,  as  to  resolve  to  starve  himself  to  death. 
His  friends  interfered  to  prevent  him,  and  the  next  competition,  1775.  was  decided  in 
his  favor. 

A  picture  of  "Belisarius"  procured  David  admission  into  the  Academy  as  an  associate; 
the  full  honor  of  Academician  was  gained  by  the  "Death  of  Socrates,"  of  which  we  give 
an  engraving  on  page  209.  His  school  was  frequented  by  pupils.  One  of  them, 
Drouais,  gained  the  prize  of  Rome,  and  his  master  accompanied  him  to  Italy.  While 
there,  David  finished  his  picture  of  the  "Horatii."  a  work  which  excited  a  furore  of 
applause.  The  Revolution  presently  engaged  all  men's  thoughts,  and  David  entered 
into  the  fray  with  the  activity  of  a  man  of  the  world.  Perhaps  he  had  an  eye  to 
business  as  well,  for  he  certainly  was  employed  by  the  Constituent  Assembly,  in  1790, 
to  paint  the  "Oath  of  the  Tenniscourt."  Two  years  later,  David  was  returned  as  one  of 
the  deputies  for  Paris  to  the  Convention.  He  was  consistent  in  his  imitation  of  the 
classic    type,    even    in    politics.     Like    some    of   his    Roman    heroes,    he    voted    for    the 


■•     *^fcL 


EUCJ  TROM.SUTiN.WNXT 


LEOF  7LAMENC-  DEL  SCULT 


\  ;ii     FALC.ONKRo 


' 


/-/??/ ///'?/    f.    <■//    // 


•  •  //  W//t 


/ 


From  the  original  painting, 


BEGGING  MONK  AT  THE  DOOR  OF  A  MOSQUE. 


ty  J.  L.  Girbi 


MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


execution  of  the  king.  Under  the  Republic,  the  artist  was  entrusted  with  the  preparation 
of  the  great  national  fete.  He  painted  several  of  the  striking  scenes  of  the  day,  such 
as  the  "Assassination  of  Le  Pelletin  in  Paris,"  and  the  "Death  of  Marat  in  his  Bath,  under 
the  dagger  of  Charlotte  Corday." 

At  the  Restoration,  things  were  not  pleasant  in  Paris  for  the  painter  of  the  Republic 
and  of  the  Empire.  His  picture,  " Thermopylae,"  was  refused  at  the  Salon,  but  all  Paris 
went  to  his  studio  to  admire  it.  By  the  law  of  January,  1816,  he,  with  others,  was 
exiled  from  France,  and  went  to  reside  at  Brussels,  where  he  died,  1825,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven.  His  expulsion  from  the  Institute  seems  to  have  wounded  him  more 
keenly  than  anything  else.  The  King  of  Prussia  made  him  tempting  offers  if  he  would 
settle  at  Berlin,  but  he  declined  all  advances.  A  medal  was  struck  in  his  honor  in  the 
name  of  the  French  School,  and  carried  to  him  at  Brussels  by  Gros,  a  former  pupil, 
and  then  an  eminent  painter.  The  old  man  was  affected  to  tears  by  this  act  of 
spontaneous  homage.  His  old  pupils  and  numerous  admirers  visited  him,  and  pressed 
him  to  write  his  own  memoirs.  He  soon  gave  up  the  attempt,  saying  that  the  founder 
of  a  school  must  let  his  works  speak  for  him.  He  still  handled  his  brush  in  history 
and  portraiture.  At  length  he  fell  seriously  ill,  and  for  ten  days  lay  unconscious. 
Recovering  himself  a  little,  he  conversed  about  his  art,  but  it  was  only  a  fitful  return 
of  strength,  and  he  soon  after  sank  and  expired. 

Claude  Joseph  Vernet  was  born  at  Avignon,  in  171 4.  Three  generations  of  this 
family  distinguished  themselves  as  painters.  The  first  artist  of  the  family  was  Antoine, 
the  father  of  Claude  Joseph,  a  painter  and  decorater  of  Avignon,  born  1689.  His  son, 
Claude  Joseph,  received  his  first  lessons  in  Art  from  his  father,  whom  he  assisted  in 
his  business.  He  was  next  sent  to  Aix,  to  study  under  Yiali,  a  painter  of  landscape 
and  sea-views.  Figure-painting  he  learnt  afterwards,  in  his  native  city,  from  Philippe 
Sauvan,  an  artist  of  distinction.  Several  noble  and  wealthy  friends  of  Claude  Joseph's 
father,  admiring  the  son's  talent,  clubbed  together  to  send  him  to  Italy,  to  improve 
himself  in  Art,  when  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  On  the  journey,  he  was  caught  in 
a  storm  at  sea,  between  Marseilles  and  Civita  Yecchia,  when  the  young  painter,  bent 
on  losing  nothing  of  the  spectacle,  had  himself  bound  to  the  mast,  that  he  might  study 
the  phenomena  at  his  ease. 

His  foreign  residence  terminated  in  1753.  and  in  the  most  agreeable  manner  for  a 
painter  who  loved  his  art.  A  royal  order  was  communicated  to  him  lrom  Paris,  that 
he  should  paint  twenty  of  the  chief  seaports  of  France,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Director  des  Beaux  Arts.  Marquis  de  Marigny. 

Vernet  settled  finally  in  Paris.  Many  of  his  old  Roman  friends  were  glad  to  find 
him    again,  and    gave   him    numerous  commissions.      The  sovereigns  of   Europe    bought 


y 


m 


■■■■".   pinx" 


■ 


h  '  (    '/  t   /' 


■      r/  '  '  < 


n 


rr-K 


li  a  b  o: 


FRENCH   SCHOOL. 


223 


his  works.     He  is  reported  to  have  decided  the  fate  of  Paul  et  Virginie,  the  pretty  little 


From  the  original  painting. 


THE    FLUTE-PLAYER. 


by  y.  L.  Meissonier. 


romance  of  Bernardin  de  St.  Pierre.     The  author  despaired  of  its  success;   Vernet  was 
requested    to   hear   it   read.      He  complied,  wept  over   the    tale,  arranged    for  a   second 


224  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


reading  before  a  company  of  his  friends,  and  the  fortune  of  the  book  was  made.  Not 
the  least  pleasing  solace  of  his  age  was  the  growing  success  of  his  son  Carle  as  a 
painter.  In  1789.  Carle  was  admitted  into  the  Academy  by  his  father.  December  3, 
in  the  same  year,  Claude  Joseph  closed  his  useful  and  pleasant  life  in  his  apartment  in 
the  Louvre,  which  looked  out  on  the  church  of  St.  Germain  1'Auxerrois. 

Louis  Gihodet  de  CouSSY,  a  son  of  the  Director  of  Domains  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
was  born  at  Montargis,  January  5,  1767.  Left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  he  owed  his 
education  to  M.  Trioson,  a  court  physician.  His  precocious  talent  for  drawing  induced 
him  to  decline  all  proposals  that  he  should  study  architecture  or  enter  the  army.  He 
would  be  a  painter,  and  nothing  else.  So  his  benefactor  placed  him  in  the  studio  of 
David,  then  at  the  height  of  his  fame  as  the  painter  of  the  "Horatii."  Girodet  missed 
the  prize  of  Rome  the  first  time  he  competed.  His  picture  was  the  best,  but  he  had 
contravened  a  regulation  that  forbade  the  use  of  studies  made  at  home.  He  had,  in 
fact,  smuggled  into  the  place  of  competition  sketches  concealed  in  a  hollow  cane.  In 
1 789,  young  Girodet  respected  the  conditions  of  the  contest,  or,  more  probably,  contrived 
to  elude  detection,  gained  the  prize,  and  went,  in  the  usual  course,  to  Rome.  There  he 
saw  enough  to  decide  him  to  modify  his  style.  Retaining  the  firm  and  learned  drawing 
he  had  acquired  under  David's  tuition,  he  aimed  at  infusing  some  ideality  into  his  work. 
The  first  result  was  "Endymion,"  now  in  the  Louvre.  When  it  reached  Paris  no  one 
applauded  it  more  than  the  painter's  old  master,  David.  Girodet's  second  work  was 
executed  for  his  benefactor,  Trioson,  1792.  It  represented  "Hippocrates  refusing  the 
Presents  of  the  King  of  Persia's  Envoys."  The  artist's  own  portrait  is  introduced  into  it. 
The  good  doctor  bequeathed  it  to  the  School  of  Medicine,  Paris.  The  French  Revo- 
lution found  Girodet  still  in  Rome;  but,  the  National  Academy  being  broken  up,  he 
went  traveling  through  Italy,  to  study,  in  company  with  Pequignot,  a  landscape  painter. 
At  the  end  of  five  years,  Girodet  returned  to  Paris,  and  soon  after  painted  his  "Danae," 
also  the  "Four  Seasons,"  for  the  King  of  Spain.  His  brush  was  not  prolific,  but  most  of 
his  works  have  a  stamp  of  their  own.  There  is  an  amusing,  if  rather  malicious,  anecdote 
of  Girodet,  and  his  method  of  paying  off  a  certain  actress,  Madame  Lange,  who  had 
commissioned  her  portrait,  but  refused  to  pay  for  it  when  it  was  finished,  on  the  pre- 
tence that  it  was  not  like  her.  The  artist  sent  it  to  the  next  Salon  as  "Danae,"  having 
previously  painted  the  lady  under  a  shower,  not  of  gold,  but  of  sou-pieces.  All  Paris 
recognized  her  and  laughed  Her  friends  interposed,  compromised  the  affair,  and  took 
away  the  pictur--. 

In  1806,  the  paintn-'s  "Deluge"  was  first  exhibited,  and  gained  the  prize,  in  compe- 
tition with  David's  "Sabui  David,  as  became  him,  showed  no  bad  feeling.  Two  years 
later  a  sensation  was  produced  by  the  exhibition  of  the  "Burial  of  Atala."  of  which  we 


FRENCH  SCHOOL. 


225 


give    an    engraving,    the    subject   is    from   Chateaubriand's    Genie   de  Christianisme.      For 


From  the  original  painting. 


by  A.  Cabanel. 


THE   ANNUNCIATION. 


several  years  after  this,  portraits  and  sketches  chiefly  occupied  Girodet's  hand.  During 
that  period  the  benefactor  of  his  youth  lost  his  only  son,  and  adopted  Girodet  as  his 
heir,  who  thereupon  took  the  name  of  Trioson  in  addition  to  his  own.     In  18 19  his  last 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


great  picture  appeared — "Pygmalion  and  Galatae."  The  applause  it  excited  was  immense. 
A  laurel  crown  was  placed  upon  it  amidst  the  cheers  of  the  bystanders.  Girodet  was 
a  great  sufferer  for  many  years  before  his  death,  which  occurred  December  9th,  1824. 
at  the  age  of  fifty-seven. 

GfeKAki'.  one  of  David's  pupils,  can  hardly  be  said,  in  his  later  works  at  least,  to 
belong  to  the  same  school.  The  conciergerie  of  Cardinal  Bernis'  residence,  the  ambas- 
sador of  France  in  Rome,  was  kept  by  Gerard's  parents,  and  there  he  was  born,  1 770. 
His  first  start  in  the  study  of  Art  was  made  in  the  studio  of  Pajou,  a  sculptor  in  Paris, 
where  he  learnt  to  draw.  His  preference  for  painting  led  him  to  take  Brenet  for  his 
master;  but  the  connection  did  not  last  long,  and  he  ultimately  entered  the  studio  of 
David.  From  a  pupil  he  became  an  assistant,  until  1794.  when  he  made  his  first  ap- 
pearance in  his  own  name,  in  a  picture  of  the  revolutionary  "Tenth  of  August;"  it  was 
a  drawing,  and  gained  the  first  prize.  Gerard  was  for  a  time  carried  away  by  the  revo- 
lutionary mania,  like  his  master,  but  he  seems  to  have  perceived  his  error  sooner  than 
David,  and  withdrew  into  his  studio,  as  the  artist's  proper  place.  Under  Napoleon  he 
rose  to  the  usual  honors  awaiting  successful  Art.  Among  his  celebrated  works  may  be 
mentioned  his  "Psyche,"  his  "Belisarius."  (the  latter  of  which  is  engraved  for  our  work,) 
his  "Battle  of  Austerlitz,"  painted  by  command  of  Napoleon  for  the  Tuileries,  in  1810; 
and  another  masterpiece  of  the  class,  his  "Entrance  of  Henri  IV.  into  Paris."  Gerard 
died  January  12.  1837.  As  an  artist,  he  cultivated  more  popular  qualities  than  his 
master,  although  the  austere  purity  of  David's  classical  style  did  not  form  one  of  them. 

A  few  lines  are  due  to  GufeRlN,  also  a  pupil  of  David;  Guerin  seems  to  have 
carried  out  his  master's  dominant  principle  even  more  completely  than  the  master  himself. 
A  picture  of  his  in  the  Louvre,  of  which  we  give  an  engraving,  will  illustrate  another 
disciple  of  the  antique  model.  It  represents  "Phaedra  and  Hippolytus."  Mr.  Wornum 
describes  it  "as  a  gorgeous  and  elaborate  work;  and  yet  a  mere  group  of  four  elabo- 
rately-painted figures."     Guerin  was  born,   1774.  and  died   1833. 

It  is  manifest  that,  within  the  limits  of  a  short  history,  it  were  impossible  to  give 
an  extended  notice  of  every  painter  belonging  to  the  national  school  of  France.  All 
one  can  do  is  to  make  a  selection  of  the  artists  whose  style  has  been  more  than 
usually  characteristic  of  an  epoch;  who  founded  or  reformed  particular  schools  of  Art; 
or  whose  works  are  more  popularly  known,  or  merit  more  general  study. 

TiiE<>ix>kK  GfcRiCAULT,  who  was  born  at  Rouen  in  1791.  was  a  pupil  first  of  Carle 
Vcrnet,  and  next  of  Pierre  Guerin.  At  first  li<-  was  a  simple  amateur,  cultivating  Art 
only  as  a  pastime,  and  as  he  died  very  young,  leaving  scarcely  anything  but  sketches, 
it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  it  happened  that  he  played  so  important  a  part  in 
French  Art,  and  exerted    such  influence  on  the  whole  school.     But  he  came  forward  at 


SALOMEo 


'. ,;  -'. ;  y 


FRENCH  SCHOOL. 


227 


the  time  when  literary  liberty  was  reviving  with  political  liberty,  and  the  whole  of  society 
was  advancing.  The  example  of  Gericault  coming  in  at  this  moment  was  sufficient  to 
urge  French  Art  forward  in  this  general  movement  of  the  human  mind. 


From  the  original  painting, 


GENERAL   PRIM. 


by  Henri  Regnault. 


His  works  in  the  Louvre  mark  the  commencement  and  close  of  his  short  life.  The 
"Chasseur  de  la  Garde"  and  the  "Cuirassier  blesse"  belong  to  the  period  when,  still 
following  on  the  traces  of  Carle  Vernet,  he  was  simply  a  painter  of  horses. 

It  was  towards  the  close  of  his  life  that  Gericault   painted    the  only  great  work  of 


22*  MASTERPIECES  OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


his  life,  the  "Raft  of  the  Medusa."  After  the  destruction  of  a  frigate  of  that  name  on 
the  coasts  of  Senegal,  the  crew  endeavored  to  save  themselves  on  a  raft  made  from  the 
wreck  of  the  ship,  and  scarcely  fifteen  men,  kept  alive  with  the  flesh  of  the  dead,  sur- 
vived the  horrors  of  revolts,  combats,  stormy  seas,  hunger,  and  thirst.  It  is  the  moment 
preceding  their  deliverance  that  the  artist,  after  some  hesitation,  chose  for  his  subject 
This  picture  was  at  first  received  with  a  storm  of  reproaches,  but  when  it  was  exhibited 
in  London  it  won  much  praise,  and  is  now  one  of  the  celebrities  of  the  Louvre. 
Gericault  died,  when  but  thirty-three  years  of  age,  in  1824. 

1'iEkkE  Prud'hon,  son  of  a  master  mason,  was  born  at  Cluny  (Sadne  et  Loire), 
1758.  His  father  dying  while  Pierre  was  a  child,  the  monks  of  Cluny  showed  him 
kimlness,  and  educated  him  in  their  school.  The  Bishop  of  Macon,  on  learning  his 
precocious  talent  for  drawing,  placed  him  in  the  studio  of  Devosges,  a  painter  at  Dijon. 
Pierre  made  rapid  progress  in  Art  Unfortunately  for  himself,  he  made  an  imprudent 
marriage,  before  he  was  twenty  years  old,  with  a  notary's  daughter  at  Cluny.  The 
parties  were  so  ill-assorted  that  a  separation  took  place.  Prud'hon  went  to  Paris  to 
improve  himself,  and  competed  for  the  Roman  prize  offered  by  the  States  of  Burgundy. 
While  the  competition  was  going  on,  he  was  so  much  affected  by  the  distress  of  the 
candidate  in  the  next  compartment,  who  felt  incompetent  to  treat  the  subject  proposed, 
that  he  broke  open  the  partition,  and  finished  the  picture  for  him.  The  prize  of  Rome 
was  awarded  to  it;  but  honor  forbade  the  student  to  profit  by  Prud'hon's  kindness;  the 
truth  was  declared,  and  Prud'hon  was  sent  to  Rome,  at  the  expense  of  the  States, 
when  he  was  about  six-and-twenty.  His  stay  there  lasted  for  about  five  years.  Raphael 
and  Leonardo  da  Vinci  chiefly  attracted  the  young  artist  who  used  to  term  Leonardo  the 
"  Homer  of  painting."  Canova,  then  residing  in  Rome,  admitted  Prud'hon  into  his  intimate 
friendship,  and  urged  him  to  settle  there  for  life.  France,  however,  proved  more  attrac- 
tive, and  he  declined  the  proposal.  During  his  stay  in  Rome  he  was  employed  to  make 
a  copy  of  Pietro  da  Cortona's  ceiling  in  the  Barberini  palace,  for  the  Hall  of  the  States 
of  Burgundy,  at  Dijon.  It  represents  the  "Triumph  of  Glory;"  and  Prud'hon's  copy  was  so 
much  appreciated  that  his  pension  at  Rome  was  renewed  for  a  second  term  of  three  years. 

He  returned  to  Paris,  only  to  find  it  agitated  by  the  impending  revolution.  He 
supported  himself  at  first  by  selling  small  drawings  to  illustrate  books.  The  time  was 
in  every  way  unpropitious  for  a  painter.  David  and  his  classic  models  ruled  the 
world  of  Art;  anarchy  threatened  all  rule  in  the  political  world.  The  storm  was  at 
last  weathered,  and  Prud'hon  is  found  in  Franche  Comte  painting  portraits,  in  oil  and 
in  pastel,  for  a  living.  His  first  success  in  an  important  original  work  was  obtained 
after  his  return  to  Paris,  in  "Wisdom  and  Virtue  Descending  to  the  Earth."  It  was 
much  admired,  and  was  purchased  for  St.  Cloud. 


V 


\ 


A 


\ 


Front  the  original  paintings 


THE  LITTLE  MARAUDERS. 


by  W.  Bouguercau. 


ajo  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Prud'hon  executed  a  number  of  other  works,  now  distributed  in  private  collections. 
They  chiefly  consist  of  allegorical  and  classical  subjects,  a  few  religious,  a  few  genre, 
and  a  good  many  portraits.  His  style  is  described  by  critics  of  his  own  nation  as 
graceful  rather  than  severe;  he  is  compared  with  Correggio  rather  than  with  Raphael. 
Gifted  with  a  greater  imagination,  his  productions  charmed  the  eye,  and  never  at  the 
expense  of  correct  drawing  and  solid  color.  Prud'hon  has  his  place,  and  a  high  one, 
among  the  cultivators  of  painting  in  France. 

His  last  years  were  overclouded  by  a  tragical  occurrence,  which  destroyed  his  only 
remaining  chance  of  social  enjoyment.  The  society  of  a  favorite  pupil,  Mademoiselle 
Mayer,  whose  studio  adjoined  his  own,  had  for  nearly  twenty  years  compensated  him 
for  the  cruel  disappointments  of  his  domestic  life.  Without  any  warning,  a  morbid 
sensibility  impelled  her  to  take  her  own  life.  Prud'hon  never  recovered  from  the  shock. 
He  was  removed  to  the  house  of  M.  de  Boisfremont,  his  friend  and  pupil,  and  worked 
at  intervals  at  his  last  pictures;  among  them,  a  "Dying  Christ,"  now  in  the  Louvre. 
Two  years  after  the  fatal  day,  he  died  in  the  arms  of  his  friend,  whispering,  as  he  ex- 
pired, "My  God,  I  thank  thee;   the  hand  of  a  friend  will  close  my  eyes." 

Our  engraving,  "Morning;  or,  Waking  of  Psyche,"  almost  tells  its  own  tale.  A 
companion  picture  of  Prud'hon's,  or  rather  of  his  pupil,  Mademoiselle  Mayer,  represents 
the  beautiful  creature  asleep,  with  her  little  Cupid  nestling  by  her  side.  He  leaves 
her,  and  we  see  her  here  in  the  act  of  waking,  to  find  him  gone.  The  bustle  of  the 
little  loves  to  light  up  the  wood  where  their  mistress  has  been  sleeping  is  well  depicted ; 
they  only  enable  her  more  fully  to  perceive  her  loss.  The  wings  of  the  butterfly  may 
be  traced  at  the  shoulders  of  Psyche.  The  original  painting  is  in  the  gallery  of  the 
Due  d'Aumale. 

Turning  to  the  Vernets,  we  note  the  birth  of  the  third  son  of  Claude  Joseph,  at 
Bordeaux,  August  14,  1758.  He  was  christened  Antoine  Charles  Horace,  and  is  best 
known  as  Carle  Ykrnet,  perhaps,  the  most  interesting  of  the  three  painters  who  bore 
the  name  of  Vernet  At  eleven  years  of  age,  Carle  was  confined  to  Lepicie,  an  in- 
different painter,  to  be  taught  his  art.  He  gained  the  prize  of  Rome  when  he  was  three- 
and-twenty,  and  began  his  residence  at  the  villa  Medici.  But  the  life  was  too  retired 
and  monotonous  for  a  youth  who  had  passed  many  years  in  Parisian  society;  and  the 
state  of  mental  depression  to  which  he  was  subject — in  consequence,  perhaps,  of  his 
frail  health — returning  with  renewed  force,  his  indulgent  father  recalled  him  to  Paris,  in 
1783.  After  this,  Carle  attempted  one  large  picture,  in  obedience  to  the  taste  of  the 
time:  a  classical  subject,  "The  Triumph  of  Paulus  Emilius."  The  artist's  own  private 
bias  led  him  to  be  an  enthusiastic  painter  of  horses.  This  style  was  of  great  service  to 
him  afterwards,  when  he  entered  <>n  the  later  part  of  his  career  as  a  painter  of  battles. 


H    :      LEVY    P!NX 


BOILVIN     SCULP 


#     / 


FRENCH   SCHOOL. 


231 


The  advent  of  the  Revolution  plunged  Carle  into  the  deepest  distress.     His  favorite  sister, 


Emilie,  married  to  the  architect,  Chalgrin,  perished  on  the  scaffold.     A  few  years  before  this 


i32  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Carle  had  married  Fanny,  daughter  of  the  painter.  Moreau.  He  soon  attached  himself 
to  the  rising  fortune  of  Napoleon,  and  painted  several  of  his  great  battles — "Marengo," 
"Austerlitz,"  "Rivoli."  With  no  less  facility,  he  submitted  to  the  Restoration,  and  in 
1 8 1 6  was  named  a  member  of  the  Academy  des  Beaux- Arts,  then  in  process  of  organi- 
zation. At  the  same  period  he  produced  in  prolific  abundance  several  hundred  litho- 
graphed caricatures  of  the  manners  and  incidents  of  the  day,  anticipating,  in  fact,  the 
political  caricatures  of  a  later  period.  He  laughed  at  the  Prussians,  the  Cossacks,  the 
English  who  invaded  Paris.  Horses,  hounds,  everything  he  loved  to  draw,  were  intro- 
duced into  his  sketches,  and  were  welcomed  with  broad  grins. 

In  1819,  Carle  Vernet  accompanied  his  son  Horace  to  Rome,  as  usual,  amusing 
everyone  he  met,  during  many  months  of  travel.  When  Horace  returned  to  Paris,  1835, 
Carle  returned  with  him,  and  at  once  resumed  his  active,  merry  life.  In  November, 
1836,  however,  a  slight  imprudence  brought  on  a  violent  illness,  which  carried  him  off 
in  a  few  days.  Carle  Vernet  died  in  Paris,  November  28,  1836,  in  the  arms  of  his  son. 
Near  the  end,  he  uttered  these  epigrammatic  words:  "C'est  singulier  comme  je  ressemble 
au  grand  Dauphin:  fils  de  roi,  pere  de  roi,  et  jamais  roi."  He,  in  fact,  summarised  his 
own  position  in  the  Art-family  of  Vernet.  He  was  not  a  king  in  Art;  he  wanted 
concentration  of  purpose,  perhaps  power.  But  he  served  Art  in  another,  and  not 
unuseful,  way;  and  his  witty  productions  mingled  the  lighter  elements  of  mirth  and 
good-humor  with  many  gloomy  recollections  of  history. 

His  son  Jean  Emii.e  Horace,  the  last  and  most  eminent  of  the  three  Vernets,  was 
born  in  Paris,  June  30,  1789.  In  crossing  the  Place  du  Carousel,  on  the  terrible  10th 
of  August,  1792,  with  his  parents,  the  same  ball  that  struck  his  father's  hand  knocked 
off  Horace's  cap.  His  father  superintended  his  education  with  a  woman's  tenderness. 
The  boy  had  the  run  of  several  studios — his  father's,  Moreau's,  and  Vincent's.  Perhaps, 
on  that  very  account,  the  young  artist  never  attained  .the  solid  knowledge  of  figure- 
drawing  which  then  lay  at  the  foundation  of  Academic  success.  Hence,  when  Horace 
competed  for  the  prize  of  Rome,  he  failed;  but  revenged  himself  by  producing  his 
earliest  battle-piece,  a  style  of  Art  in  which  he  was  hereafter  to  have  no  rival.  His 
early  taste  for  military  affairs  would  probably  have  led  him  to  the  army;  but  Carle,  nis 
father,  anxious  to  have  his  son  settled  near  him,  married  him,  in  1801,  to  Marie  Pujol, 
and  had  him  appointed  draughtsman  to  the  depdt  of  war.  Horace  shared  all  his  father's 
tastes,  his  love  of  horses,  his  love  of  humor,  and,  above  all,  his  admiration  of  "battles' 
magnificently  stern  array."  A  Honapartist  to  the  backbone,  he  found  it  a  little  difficult 
to  fall  into  the  new  order  of  things  at  the  Restoration ;  but  by  management,  he  succeeded 
in  pleasing  his  new  masters,  while  still  gratifying  his  independent  sympathy  with  the 
empire   and    its   victories.     Thus    he    painted  for  the   Duke  of    Bern,  "The  I>og  of  the 


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»j4  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


Regiment,''  and  "The  Trumpeter's  Horse,"  and  such  episodes,  for  his  own  pleasure,  as 
"The  Farewell  at  Fontainebleau,"  "Napoleon  the  Evening  before  Waterloo,"  "The  Rock 
of  St.  Helena,"  which,  like  the  songs  of  Beranger,  kept  alive  the  recollections  of  the  exile. 
Charles  X.,  jealous  of  the  patronage  the  artist  was  receiving  from  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
gave  him  several  commissions;  and,  in  1828,  Horace  was  named  to  the  directorship  of 
the  Roman  Academy.  Here,  a  brilliant  gathering  of  celebrities  happened  to  throw  a 
charm  over  his  period  of  office.  Thorwaldsen,  Leopold  Robert,  Stendhal,  Mendelssohn, 
and  others,  frequented  the  director's  lively  reunions.  His  old  father,  too,  was  with  him, 
the  youngest  in  spirits.  But  Horace  had  no  sympathy  with  the  great  painters  whom  all 
the  world  worshiped  in  Rome.  He  tells  us  himself,  no  matter  what  he  was  painting, 
he  was  ready  to  run  to  the  window  at  any  moment,  at  the  first  tap  of  a  drum. 

Returning,  in  1835,  to  Paris,  he  found  another  political  revolution  in  power,  and 
his  former  patron,  Louis  Philippe,  at  the  head  of  it.  Royal  commissions  engrossed  his 
whole  energies.  Battles,  sieges,  grew  under  his  busy  hand  to  unusual  dimensions. 
From  1 836-1 84 1  was  the  most  productive  period  of  his  life.  At  length,  however,  in  a 
moment  of  independence,  he  gave  temporary  offence  to  his  patron;  painting  the  "Siege 
of  Valenciennes,"  he  was  commanded  to  place  Louis  XIV. — where  he  was  never  to  be 
seen  in  his  whole  life — leading  the  assault.  The  king  was  in  fact  hiding  in  a  windmill 
with  Madame  de  Montespan.  So  Vernet  laid  down  his  brush,  and  went  to  St.  Peters- 
burg, on  a  visit  to  the  Czar.  He  then  traveled  through  Sweden,  and  went  to  England, 
on  his  return  to  Paris.  In  the  meantime,  the  progress  of  French  arms  in  Algeria  was 
making  fresh  matter  for  his  hand.  Fifteen  days  after  the  fall  of  Constantine,  Vernet 
started  for  the  seat  of  war,  and  brought  back  sketches  for  three  more  of  his  great 
siege-pictures  for  Versailles.  He  next  set  out  for  the  East,  attracted  by  what  he  had 
seen  of  partially  Oriental  life  in  Algeria.  Egypt,  Palestine,  Asia  Minor,  and  Turkey 
were  in  turn  visited  and  described  in  numerous  letters.  In  1842,  another  misunder- 
standing sent  the  artist  again  to  the  Czar;  but  the  fatal  July  13,  when  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  met  his  death,  seems  to  have  given  a  turn  to  his  feelings,  and  he  rushed  back 
to  Paris  to  condole  with  the  king.  Two  more  feats  of  arms,  the  "Capture  of  the  Smala 
of  Abd-el-Kadir,"  and  the  "Battle  of  Isly,"  engaged  this  painter,  also  for  Versailles. 
The  latter  subject  cost  him  another  journey  to  Algeria. 

Anotlvr  revolution  in  1848  disconcerted  Vernet,  and  he  never  again  worked  with 
the  vigor  of  former  days.  Subsequent  wars  did  not  inspire  him;  he  went  to  the  Crimea, 
indeed,  and  painted  the  "Battle  of  the  Alma;"  he  also  executed  an  equestrian  portrait 
of  Napoleon  III.  A  last  honor  was  offered  him  at  the  Exhibition  of  1855.  when  the 
jury  voted  him  a  gold  medal  in  view  of  his  collected  works  exhibited  at  that  time. 
But    the    distinction    of  this    compliment    was    diminished    by   the    fact    that    three   other 


s 


HENRIETfE   BRCTWTJE  .  PINXT 


C."W.  SHARPE    SCTTiF" 


FRENCH   SCHOOL. 


235 


From  the  original  painting, 


bv  C.  Herrmann- Leon. 


A  PAUSE  IN  THE  ARGUMENT. 

French  painters,  Decamps,  Delacroix,  and  Ingres,  were  associated  with  him  in  the  vote. 


236  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

Time  was  passing;  the  painter  was  weary.  He  had  a  villa  at  Hyeres,  to  which  he 
frequently  retired.  The  last  sketch  he  made  was  for  a  painting  he  meditated  for  the 
entrance  to  his  villa.  It  was  a  "Holy  Family,"  with  an  inscription — Dieu  seul  ne  se 
repose  pas.  An  accident  placed  his  life  in  danger;  he  was  taken  to  Paris,  and  on  the 
17th  January.  1863,  he  died.  The  vigorous  portrait  of  this  great  artist  (for  in  his  own 
military  genre  he  was  great,)  painted  by  his  son-in-law,  Delaroche,  of  which  we  give  an 
excellent  engraving  by  F.  Gaillard,  enables  us  to  understand  how  the  army  of  Algeria 
always  called  him  Colonel  Vernet. 

The  name  of  Hippolyte  (or  by  abbreviation  Paul)  Delaroche  is  the  first  that 
occurs  in  the  present  century.  He  was  a  native  of  Paris;  1797  the  year  of  his  birth. 
As  a  painter  he  has  much  to  interest  an  English-speaking  nation,  because  many 
of  his  subjects  were  selected  from  English  history.  Delaroche's  father  was  a  dealer 
in  pictures;  he  conducted  public  sales,  and  brought  out  well-known  catalogues.  His 
son,  Paul,  studied  first  under  Wattelet,  and  made  his  first  appearance  in  the  Salon 
of  1822,  with  three  pictures.  One  of  these,  "Joash  Saved  by  Josabeth,"  attracted  the 
notice  of  Gericault,  who,  at  Paul's  request,  gave  him  lessons  and  advice.  Avoiding 
the  extremes  of  Academic  stiffness  and  of  unmeasured  license,  the  pupil  held  a 
middle  course,  and  thus  gained  friends  and  patrons  among  independent  lovers  of  art. 
Delaroche  was  a  diligent  painter,  and  his  reputation  rose,  from  year  to  year,  as  fresh 
works  attested  his  mastery  of  his  art  and  the  variety  of  his  attainments.  His  striking 
picture  of  the  "Death  of  Queen  Elizabeth  of  England,"  exhibited  in  1827,  made  a  great 
impression.  After  the  Revolution  of  1830,  Delaroche  became  still  better  known  and 
appreciated  as  a  painter  of  history.  Many  of  these  works  have  become  familiar  by  the 
intervention  of  engraving.  Thus,  the  "Two  young  English  Princes  in  the  Tower," 
"Cromwell  Opening  the  Coffin  of  Charles  I.,"  the  "Execution  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,"  and 
"Strafford  on  his  way  to  Execution,"  (now  in  the  gallery  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland, 
London,)  show  his  preference  for  several  dramatic  incidents  in  English  history.  Among 
his  French  subjects  two  are  very  well  known,  "Cardinal  Richelieu  on  the  Rhone,  in  a 
Barge;"  the  dying  Cardinal  is  accompanied  by  Cinq-Mars  and  de  Thou,  two  conspirators 
who  are  going  to  their  doom.  A  companion  picture  to  this  is  the  "Death  of  Cardinal 
Mazarin,"  who  is  fading  out  of  life  in  a  chamber  filled  with  ladies  and  courtiers  of 
fashion,  few  of  whom  seem  to  take  the  event  much  to  heart.  No  one  who  has  ever 
seen  even  a  good  engraving  of  either  of  these  remarkable  pictures,  can  ever  forget  iL 

Delaroche  was  also  frequently  engaged  in  portraiture.  He  painted  "Guizot," 
"Thiers,"  and  "Gregory  XVI.,"  now  at  Versailles.  In  this  class  of  Art,  Delaroche's 
critics  were  not  agreed  as  to  his  merit  Some  of  them  detected  in  his  earlier  works 
the  influence  of  Horace  Vernet,  and  that  of  Ingres  in  the  later.     The  portrait  of  Horace 


1=1 


t=l 
£5 


m 


FRENCH  SCHOOL. 


237 


Vernet  in  this  volume  is  a  favorable  specimen  of  this  style  of  his  art.  In  1841,  special 
attention  was  again  drawn  to  Delaroche  by  the  unveiling  of  a  work  which  had  occupied 
him  for  four  years:  "The  Decoration  of  the  Hemicycle  in  the  Palace  of  the  Beaux  Arts." 
This,  if  not  actually  the  best  of  his  works,  was  beyond  all  question  the  largest.  It 
covered  a  hollow  surface,  eighty-eight  feet  by  thirteen.  Upwards  of  eighty  figures  are 
arranged    in  groups,  and    represent    the    great   painters,  sculptors,  and   architects  of  the 


From  the  original  painting. 


THE  SISTERS. 


by  Leon  Bonnat. 


middle  ages  and  of  modern  times,  convoked  before  the  chair  of  the  judges,  on  which 
are  seated  the  three  masters  of  antiquity,  Ictinus,  Phidias,  and  Apelles.  Between  the 
elevated  chair — at  the  foot  of  which,  kneels  "Fame,"  which  we  engrave  on  page  217 — 
and  the  level  of  the  assembly,  on  either  side,  there  are  allegorical  figures  symbolizing 
Greek  and  Roman  Art,  the  Middle  Age,  and  the  Renaissance.  Where  it  was  possible, 
all  the  heads  are  portraits,  even  the  Middle  Age  is  said  to  represent  the  beautiful  face 
of  the    painter's  wife.     Whatever   there    may  be    in    the    objection   that   this    is    a    mere 


238  MASTERPIECES    OE  EUROPEAN  ART. 


gathering  of  portraits  and  costumes,  and  for  all  its  careful  execution,  wanting  in  severity 
ol  style  and  unity  of  comjxisition,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  contains  many  beautiful 
groups,  or  that  its  archaeological  details  are  full  of  interest.  Delaroche  afterwards  made 
a  reduced  copy  of  this  vast  picture,  which  was  exhibited  in  England,  and  from  which 
Dupont's  admirable  engraving  was  taken. 

Death  overtook  him,  almost  suddenly,  in  Paris,  November  4,  1856.  An  exhibition 
of  his  collected  works  took  place  shortly  afterwards,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Association 
of  Artist-Painters  and  Sculptors,  of  which  Delaroche  had  been  President.  At  the  same 
time,  Messrs.  Goupil  executed  photographs  of  his  principal  works,  which  were  published, 
with  an  excellent  notice  by  Delaborde. 

M.  About  shall  sum  up  a  great  deal  of  criticism  on  Delaroche,  and  his  place  in 
Art.  ,,lle  excelled  in  sketching  an  idea  on  the  canvas,  and  in  arranging  the  scene  with 
proper  effect.  He  had  not,  indeed,  the  long  breath  required  for  a  historian;  but  he 
had  no  want  of  the  animation  necessary  for  a  chronicler.  His  small  pictures  are  greater 
than  his  large  pictures — a  proof  that  greatness  does  not  lie  in  mere  size  of  canvas. 
Delaroche  formed  the  most  numerous  of  all  the  schools  of  our  time." 

•  In  Akv  ScHEFFER  and  his  works,  German  sentiment  somewhat  incongruously  mingles 
with  the  result  of  French  training.  Ary  was  born  at  Dordrecht,  in  Holland,  February, 
1 795.  the  eldest  of  three  sons  of  a  German  painter,  who  died  when  Ary  was  about 
fifteen  years  old.  The  boy's  talent  for  art  was  early  manifested;  a  painting  of  his  had 
been  admitted  into  the  Amsterdam  Salon  before  he  was  twelve.  The  young  widow,  his 
mother,  left  with  slender  means,  at  once  resolved,  for  the  sake  of  her  children,  to  re- 
move to  Paris,  which  thus  became  Ary's  permanent  home.  How  wise  a  counsellor  and 
friend  of  her  sons  she  must  have  been,  appears  from  a  few  words  of  advice  she  once 
gave  Ary  about  his  progress  in  art:  "Be  assiduous  in  work;  above  all,  be  modest;  and, 
when  you  can  say  that  you  excel  others,  then  compare  your  work  with  nature,  and  with 
the  ideal  you  had  formed;  this  comparison  will  save  you  from  yielding  to  pride  or  pre- 
sumption." Among  the  best  of  his  works  in  this  style  is  his  "Francesca  da  Rimini," 
the  tearful  episode  in  Dante's  "Inferno.''  It  alone  would  plead  against  oblivion  for  iis 
author's  name.  A  wave  of  religious  feeling  seems  next  to  have  passed  over  Scheffer. 
To  1837  must  be  referred  his  "Christ  the  Consoler,"  which  we  engrave  on  page  211. 
The  failuns  of  humanity  are  gathered  around  the  great  master  of  comfort;-  the  faces 
of  the  sorrowing  are  illuminated  by  the  Divine  presence,  and  in  the  background  are  the 
representatives  of  evil.  Yet  the  countenance  of  Christ  is  not,  in  this  picture,  equal  to 
other  parts,  or  to  what  might  have  been  expected  of  it.  Several  pictures  from  the 
last  scenes  of  the  Saviour's  life  followed.  His  admirers  applauded;  his  critics  did  not 
fail  to  find  material  for  their  craft.     Scheffer  also  painted  several  Old  Testament  subjects. 


■ 


tfjjkf 


FRENCH   SCHOOL.  239 


Scheffer,  already  in  declining  health,  yet  unable  to  resist  the  impulse  that  urged 
him  to  the  funeral  of  the  Duchess  of  Orleans,  near  London,  in  1858,  died  at  Argenteuil 
of  the  fatigue  and  agitation  consequent  on  the  journey,  June  15  of  that  year.  An 
unfinished  picture  of  the  "Angel  Announcing  the  Resurrection"  remained  to  testify  the 
hope  that  had  illuminated  the  artist's  closing  hours.  Our  engraving  by  M.  Flameng 
represents  "Margaret  at  the  Fountain,"  painted  in  1858  by  Scheffer,  and  let  into  a  panel 
in  the  dining-room  of  the  Hotel-Pereira,  Paris.  The  scene  is  taken  from  Goethe's 
sorrowful  drama  of  Faust.  A  distant  view  of  her  lover  fascinates  her  gaze,  and  she 
neglects  her  water-pitcher,  which  is  running  over,  to  look  after  him.  A  prophetic 
melancholy  is  seated  in  those  dreamy  eyes.  They  remind  you  of  all  the  sorrow  and 
of  all  the  beauty  of  her  tragic  tale.     This  work  was  one  of  the  master's  latest. 

Ferdinand  Victor  Eugene  Delacroix,  who  takes  rank  among  the  first,  if  not  as 
the*  very  first,  in  the  contemporaneous  school  of  art  in  France,  was  born  at  Charenton- 
St.  Maurice,  near  Paris,  in  the  last  year  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Eugene's  infancy  is 
said  to  have  been  remarkable  for  the  many  escapes  he  made  from  a  violent  death. 
His  cradle  caught  fire,  and  the  baby  was  badly  burnt;  he  carried  the  marks  of  this 
accident  through  life.  Then  he  was  once  nearly  poisoned  with  verdigris ;  he  was  twice 
almost  strangled.  One  day  he  fell  into  the  harbor  at  Marseilles,  and  was  saved  by 
the  promptness  of  a  seaman.  His  father  dying  when  Eugene  was  six  years  old,  the 
child  was  taken  by  his  mother  to  Paris,  and  put  to  school  at  the  Lyceum  Louis-le- 
Grand.  Happening  one  day  to  visit  the  Musee  Napoleon,  at  a  time  when  the  treasures 
of  many  European  galleries  were  collected  in  Paris  as  spoils  of  war,  Eugene  is  said  to 
have  been  so  fascinated  by  what  he  saw,  as  to  decide  at  once  that  he  would  be  a 
painter.  He  entered  Guerin's  studio,  but  master  and  pupil  soon  disagreed ;  and 
Eugene  presently  made  the  acquaintance  of  Gericault,  and  began  to  profit  by  his 
counsels. 

In  1827  the  Salon  contained  many  important  works  of  Delacroix;  among  the  rest 
was  the  "  Death  of  Marino  Faliero,"  Doge  of  Venice,  which  forms  one  of  our  engra- 
vings. The  Doge  was  detected  in  a  conspiracy  against  the  State  he  ruled,  and  was 
condemned  to  die  for  his  treason.  The  fatal  moment  is  just  over;  the  sword  of  justice 
has  fallen,  and  the  headless  form  of  Faliero  encumbers  the  Scala  dei  Giganti,  in  the 
ducal  palace,  Venice.  Attendants  are  carrying  away  the  robes  of  state,  for  the  Doge 
had  been  executed  in  his  official  costume.  The  officers  of  state,  in  a  higher  balcony, 
are  completing  the  formalities  of  the  law.  The  executioner  and  his  assistant  are 
standing  below,  on  either  side  of  the  corpse.  The  composition  of  this  work  is,  in  the 
highest  degree,  dramatic.  It  is  said  to  have  been  preferred  by  the  artist  to  all  his  other 
works.     It  was  purchased  for  $4000,  by  Isaac  Pereira,  a  munificent  patron  of  Art. 


24t>  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

A  large  selection  from  Delacroix's  works  was  placed  in  the  Exhibition  of  1855. 
beginning  with  his  earliest,  "Dante's  Boat"  A  gold  medal  was  awarded  him;  but  a  still 
more  valuable  testimony  must  have  been  the  unanimity  of  approbation  with  which  his 
pictures  were  received.  Two  years  afterwards  he  was  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the 
Academy  of  the  Beaux  Arts,  vacated  by  the  death  of  Delaroche. 

As  "Heliodore,"  engraved  by  M.  Flameng,  forms  the  subject  of  one  of  our  illustrations, 
a  few  words  must  be  devoted  to  it  Heliodorus,  as  every  reader  of  the  Maccabees  (iii. 
23)  must  remember,  was  the  treasurer  of  Seleucus  Philopator,  and  was  commissioned  by 
his  master  to  carry  away  the  private  treasures  deposited  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem. 
In  the  very  act  he  was  visited  by  "a  great  apparition,"  so  that  he  fell  down  speechless, 
and  "compassed  with  a  great  darkness."  An  angel  of  God,  mounted  on  a  fiery  horse, 
rode  over  him,  while  two  others  sharply  scourged  him,  as  he  lay.  His  life  was  spared 
at  the  intercession  of  Onias,  the  high  priest,  and  he  reported  to  his  master  the  super- 
human protection  extended  over  Jerusalem.  The  story  is  dramatically  related  in  the 
picture.  Stately  architecture,  befitting  the  Temple,  is  introduced,  and  fills  the  whole 
background.  A  grand  staircase,  flanked  by  columns,  ascending  and  descending  from 
the  foreground,  is  the  scene  of  the  robbers  punishment.  From  an  upper  balcony,  the 
high  priest  and  his  attendants  look  down,  in  agitation,  on  what  is  passing  below,  and 
intercede  for  the  culprit's  life.  The  winged  angel  of  God,  mounted  on  a  horse  and 
holding  a  short  sceptre  or  baton,  rushes  at  the  sacrilegious  man ;  while  two  other  angels, 
but  without  wings,  scourge  him  as  he  lies  prostrate  among  the  scattered  treasures  he 
was  carrying  away. 

The  artist  contributed  from  time  to  time  to  literature,  in  the  Revue  des  Deux 
Afondes,  and  elsewhere.  He  was  still  meditating  new  conquests  with  his  brush,  when 
death  put  a  period  to  his  work.  Returning  to  Paris,  June,  1863,  from  his  country  house 
near  Versailles,  he  was  seized  with  fatal  illness,  and  after  two  months  of  suffering  he 
died  August  13,  with  a  smile  on  his  lips,  and  was  buried  at  Pere  la-chaise.  In  him 
French  art  lost  one  of  its  masters. 

Jean  Aucusre  Dominique  Ingres,  one  of  the  most  independent,  original  and  pleasing 
of  all  the  French  School,  was  born  at  Montauban,  1780;  and,  although  his  life  was 
prolonged  to  his  eighty-seventh  year,  such  was  the  elasticity  of  his  mind  and  body,  that 
he  seemed  at  last  to  have  died  young.  He  inherited  what  George  Sand  has  termed 
T&me  d'artiste  from  his  father,  who  was  a  sculptor,  an  architect,  musician  and  painter 
in  one.  The  son  found  his  violin  useful  in  supporting  him  on  his  first  arrival  in  Paris, 
1796,  in  search  of  instruction  as  a  painter.  He  had  acquired  the  elements  of  art  in 
the  school  of  Roques,  a  pupil  of  Vien's,  at  Toulouse.  In  Paris  he  placed  himself  under 
the  tuition  of  David.     The  intensity  and  gravity  of  his  character  even  thus  early  mani- 


G  .  DORE  ,    PINXT 


J.  SADDLER.  SCULP? 


HOMELESS, 


FRENCH  SCHOOL.  241 


fested  themselves;  his  style  already  indicated  the  delicacy  of  outline,  the  deep  feeling 
for  form,  and  the  union  of  firmness  and  exactness  in  modeling,  which  marked  the  late 
works  of  the  master.  In  1800,  his  unremitting  attention  to  study  was  rewarded,  but  as  yet 
only  with  the  second  prize.     In  1806  the  way  to  Rome  was  opened  to  him,  and  he  went. 

On  his  return  to  Paris,  the  painter  opened  a  school  and  drew  around  him  a  number 
of  pupils  who  learned  to  value  his  genius  underneath  his  somewhat  unattractive  manners. 
He  painted  portraits  of  Charles  X.  and  many  of  his  court.  At  the  end  of  ten  years  he 
returned  to  Rome,  as  director  of  the  French  Academy  there.  There  he  painted  little, 
preferring  to  devote  himself  to  the  duties  of  his  office.  One  of  the  few  pictures  belonging 
to  this  period  was  the  "Andromeda,"  of  which  we  give  an  engraving  by  Flameng. 

The  Paris  Exhibition,  1855,  was  a  triumph  for  Ingres;  he  had  a  whole  chamber  to 
himself,  filled  with  his  works.  The  painter  of  the  First  Consul  and  first  Emperor  was 
promoted,  under  the  Second  Empire,  to  the  rank  of  senator,  and  received  medals  and 
decorations,  loved  of  Frenchmen.  1867  was  the  year  of  his  death.  Early  in  the  year, 
he  entertained  a  number  of  his  friends  one  evening  with  quartets  of  Haydn,  Mozart 
and  Beethoven,  for  music  remained  to  the  last  his  principal  diversion.  He  had  never 
appeared  in  better  health.  The  following  night  he  was  roused  from  bed  by  the  fall  of 
a  burning  log  on  the  floor  of  his  room.  In  extinguishing  it  Ingres  caught  a  violent 
cold,  which  terminated  in  his  death,  January  14.  Montauban  erected  a  statue  to  her 
illustrious  citizen.  The  Musee  of  that  town  possesses  several  of  his  finest  works,  one 
of  them  is  "Jesus  among  the  Doctors." 

Joseph  Louis  Bellange,  a  pupil  of  Gros,  and  almost  exclusively  a  painter  of  French 
battles,  was  born  in  Paris  with  the  present  century.  His  first  public  appearance  was  in 
the  Salon  of  1822,  with  a  battle,  of  course;  and  for  upwards  of  forty  years,  with  rare 
exceptions,  he  never  failed  to  exhibit  some  new  military  glory;  his  works  amounted,  at 
last,  to  more  than  a  hundred  pictures  of  large  size.  He  painted  the  victories  of  the 
Republic  and  of  the  Empire;  not,  certainly,  with  the  talent  of  Horace  Vernet,  yet  with 
so  much  of  the  untranslatable  element  chic,  as  to  take  the  French  taste  and  raise 
himself  to  considerable  popularity.  Bellange  was  director  of  the  Rouen  Musee  for 
nearly  twenty  years,  and  died  in  Paris,  1866.  His  son  and  pupil,  Eugene,  carries  on 
the  task  of  representing  life  in  the  barrack  and  on  the  battle-field. 

Jean  Francois  Millet,  an  eminent  painter  of  landscape,  was  born  at  Greville,  near 
Cherbourg,  about  181 5.  His  parents  were  peasants.  The  Cherbourg  authorities  en- 
couraged his  talent,  and  sent  the  youth  to  Paris,  stipulating  for  a  certain  number  of  his 
pictures  in  return.  Millet  studied  under  Delaroche,  and  for  a  while  hesitated  between 
genre  and  historical  painting.  His  natural  bent  withdrew  him  from  both  styles,  and 
made    him    a    painter    of   the    simpler    scenes   of  country   life.     He    married   early,   and 


242  MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

settled  in  the  little  village  of  Barbizon,  on  the  confines  of  the  forest  of  Fontainebleau. 
There  he  painted  those  small  easel  pictures  which  have  delighted  so  many  persons  of 
cultivated  taste,  and,  in  a  more  limited  measure,  the  general  public.  The  Salon  of  1844 
was  the  place  and  date  of  his  earliest  appearance.  He  was,  at  first,  little  appreciated. 
His  style,  if  masterly,  was  felt  to  be  somewhat  austere,  his  color  monotonous,  the  feeling 
of  his  work  tinged  with  melancholy.  Slowly  he  made  his  way,  and  was  at  last  recog- 
nized as  the  "poet  of  country  life."  His  life  was,  like  his  talents,  simple,  noble,  un- 
obtrusive and  genuine.  It  closed  in  the  first  month  of  1875,  and  Millet  was  interred 
at  Chantilly,  near  Fontainebleau,  where  many  of  his  brethren  of  the  brush  have  found 
their  last  resting-place. 

The  fable  of  La  Fontaine  is  familiar  to  every  one;  to  the  effect  that,  however 
figuratively  weary  of  life  a  sane  man  may  become,  in  consequence  of  labor  and  suffering, 
he  in  his  heart  prefers  the  ills  he  must  bear,  "to  others  that  he  knows  not  of,"  in 
another  state  of  existence.  In  "Death  and  the  Wood-cutter,"  engraved  by  E.  Hedouin, 
we  have  the  old  man  groaning  under  the  trial  of  his  wood-cutting  craft;  he  has  carried 
his  heavy  bundle  of  faggots  a  long  way;  he  sits  down  and  wishes  he  were  dead.  On 
the  instant  death  is  upon  him,  wrapped  in  a  winding-sheet,  carrying  his  scythe  and 
winged  hour-glass.  The  face  of  the  skeleton  is  averted  to  soften,  in  an  artistic  sense,  the 
horror  of  his  appearance.     He  seizes  the  discontented  woodman  and  summons  him  away. 

Jean  Baftiste  Corot,  a  natfve  of  Paris,  was  born  shortly  before  the  end  of  last 
century.  His  parents,  of  the  lower-middle  class,  opposed,  as  usual,  his  precocious 
tendencies  to  Art,  and  insisted  on  his  entering  a  cloth-merchant's  establishment  in  the 
Rue  St.  Honore.  Passive  obedience,  as  usual,  succeeded  in  the  long  run,  and  young 
Corot  was  permitted  to  begin  his  Art-studies  under  Michallon.  This  artist  died  a  few 
months  afterwards;  but  a  lesson  he  gave  Corot,  one  day  when  they  were  sketching  in  the 
country,  was  never  forgotten.  He  bade  him  always  to  copy  simply  what  he  saw  before 
him.     After  Michallon  *s  death,  Corot  sought  further  instruction  in  the  studio  of  Benin. 

In  1826  he  went  to  Italy  and  passed  several  months  there,  repeating  his  visits  at 
intervals  of  about  ten  years.  The  Salon  of  1849  contained  a  picture  by  him  which 
carried  everything  before  it.  It  represented  the  silence  and  sadness  of  evening;  it 
breathed  freshness,  calm  and  peace  in  a  manner  never  to  be  forgotten.  He  died  in 
Paris  in  the  Spring  of  1875.  He  did  not  always  confine  himself  to  landscape,  but  it  is 
in  landscape  that  he  must  be  taken  at  his  best. 

Jk.an  Baftiste  Isabey,  an  eminent  miniature  painter,  was  a  native  of  Nancy.  He 
repaired  to  Paris,  in  1786,  being  then  nineteen  years  of  age;  anil,  while  he  was  studying 
miniature  under  Dumont,  supported  himself  by  painting  snuff-boxes.  When  David 
returned  from  Rom--.  Isabey  entered  his  studio  as  a  pupil,  and  finished  his  art-education. 


'» 


5 


FRENCH   SCHOOL.  243 


David  helped  him  to  live,  as  well  as  to  improve  himself  in  Art.  When  the  Revolution 
came,  Isabey  had  his  hands  full  of  portraits  of  the  Constituent  Assembly.  Under  the 
Directory,  he  became  the  most  popular  miniature  painter  in  Paris.  Some  of  the  best 
portraits  he  ever  took  were  of  that  date.  "They  represent  some  incredible  oddities, 
with  dog's  ears;  and  as  for  his  women,  they  are  the  boldest  and  the  most  licentious," 
says  M.  Charles  Blanc.  Isabey  became  Hortense  Beauharnais'  drawing-master,  and  thus 
established  a  connection  with  the  Bonaparte  family.  A  portrait  of  General  Bonaparte 
in  the  Malmaison  Gardens,  painted  at  that  time,  is  a  first-rate  work  of  art.  Later  on, 
he  was  appointed  painter  and  draughtsman  to  the  Emperor's  cabinet,  and  instructed  the 
Empress  Marie  Louise  in  drawing.  He  was  dispatched  to  Vienna  to  paint  portraits  of 
her  family;  and  received  the  coveted  office  of  director  of  painting  at  Sevres.  Political 
changes  did  Isabey  no  harm.  Charles  X.  was  as  well  pleased  as  another  to  have  the 
great  miniaturist  for  his  court  painter  also.  Louis  Philippe,  in  his  turn,  could  not  do 
without  him,  and  made  him  director  of  all  the  royal  Musees.  Still  more  lucky  for 
Isabey  was  the  next  Revolution,  of  1848;  the  son  of  his  old  pupil,  Queen  Hortense, 
became  President  of  the  Republic,  and  afterwards  Emperor.  Decorations  and  pensions 
naturally  fell  to  his  share.  Thus,  pleasantly  smiled  on  by  Fortune,  Isabey  prolonged 
his  life  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-eight,  and  died  in  Paris,   1855. 

Constant  Troyon,  who  divides  with  Rosa  Bonheur  the  laurels  of  animal  painting, 
was  born  1810,  in  an  atmosphere  of  art,  at  Sevres;'  and  was  originally  intended  for  a 
painter  on  porcelain.  Subsequent  travel,  however,  in  picturesque  parts  of  France, 
attracted  him  to  landscape  and  animals.  For  the  last  forty  years  he  has  been  engaged 
in  this  manner,  and  his  works  are  widely  known  and  distributed  among  collectors  of 
pictures.  Many  of  them  are  also  popularized  in  engraving.  Medals  and  decorations 
are  the  least  valuable  witnesses  to  his  reputation. 

Henri  Regnault  drew  his  first  breath  in  the  art-atmosphere  of  Sevres,  where  his 
father  was  director  of  the  porcelain  manufactory.  His  education  finished  at  the  Lycee 
Napoleon,  Henri  decided  to  be  a  painter.  At  seventeen  he  entered  the  studio  of 
Lamothe,  a  pupil  of  Ingres  and  Flandrin  ;  he  also  studied  under  Cabanel,  and  in  the 
school  of  the  Beaux  Arts.  In  1866,  being  then  three-and-twenty  years  of  age,  he 
secured  the  prize  of  Rome  by  his  picture  of  "Thetis  carrying  to  Achilles  the  Armor 
forged  by  Vulcan."  The  following  year  Regnault  began  his  studies  in  Rome.  In  a  year 
or  two  he  traveled  in  Spain,  where  .he  made  a  portrait  of  General  Prim,  and  a  copy 
of  Velasquez'  "Surrender  of  Breda."  Regnault's  admiration  for  Velasquez  amounted 
to  enthusiasm.     He  called  him  "the  Moliere  of  painting." 

Early  in  1869  he  returned  to  Rome  to  finish  his  "Judith,"  and  thence  back  again 
to  Spain,  which   had   fascinated   him.     He   traveled   about  Valencia,  Murcia  and  Anda- 


244  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


lusia,  in  company  with  his  friend  Clairin.  He  next  crossed  over  to  Africa,  and  fixed 
his  residence  at  Tangier  for  several  months.  A  studio  was  improvised,  and  the  artists 
passed  a  delightful  time  in  studying  Moorish  scenes  and  life.  It  was  here  that  Regnault 
finished  a  favorite  picture  which  he  had  begun  in  Rome,  and  which  his  servant,  Legraine, 
was  ordered  to  bring  from  Italy  to  Tangier.  This  was  the  "Salome,"  of  which  we 
offer  an  engraving  by  M.  Rajon.  It  is  an  elaborate  study  of  a  gipsy  woman  in  the 
Roman  Campagna.  The  unfinished  picture  had  a  narrow  escape  from  destruction  on 
its  way  to  Africa.  Legraine  was  to  sail  from  Marseilles,  but,  suspecting  the  first  boat, 
he  waited  for  another  which  would  sail  in  a  few  days.  The  first  boat  went  to  the 
bottom,  and  the  news  of  its  loss  reached  Regnault  several  days  before  he  heard  that 
his  sen-ant,  his  "Salome"  and  a  favorite  greyhound  were  safely  arrived.  This  strange 
picture  at  first  repels  and  then  fascinates  the  gazer.  The  wild,  animal  head  and  face  of 
Herodias'  daughter  bear  a  mixed  expression  of  folly  and  stolid  indifference.  The 
original  is  described  as  a  miracle  of  sumptuous  color,  running  through  all  its  tones, 
from  lightest  to  darkest,  in  perfect  harmony.  Her  superb  head  of  raven-black  hair  is 
relieved  against  a  background  of  lemon-colored  satin.  Her  limbs  are  only  half 
concealed  by  her  gauze  robe,  ornamented  with  gold.  She  is  seated  on  a  highly 
decorated  coffer,  her  naked  feet  are  escaping  from  the  dark  slippers  that  repeat  the 
black  tone  of  her  hair.  A  gold  plate  and  sheathed  knife  on  her  lap  indicate  her  story. 
"Caressing  ferocity  is  at  the  bottom  of  her  nature,"  was  the  remark  of  her  painter; 
"she  is,  in  fact,  a  sort  of  dark  panther,  half  tamed,  perhaps,  but  always  savage  and 
cruel."  In  short,  "Salome"  must  be  an  artist's  delight,  and  an  insoluble  puzzle  for  a 
collector  of  "Scripture  prints."  The  original  was  exhibited  in  the  Salon  of  1870,  and 
was  sold  at  first  hand  for  $2800,  and  afterwards  to  Madame  de  Cassin  for  $8000. 

Regnault's  portrait  of  Prim,  which  is  engraved  on  page  227,  was  exhibited  in  Paris 
in  1869.  Amidst  the  artist's  charming  life  at  Tangier,  the  news  of  the  declaration  of 
war  with  Germany  fell  like  a  thunderbolt.  In  August,  1870.  Regnault  reached  Paris,  and 
immediately  joined  the  National  Guard. 

January  17,  1871,  on  the  eve  of  a  sortie,  he  took  a  last  farewell  of  the  lady  he 
loved.  Marly  in  the  morning  of  the  19th  his  regiment  was  engaged  with  the  enemy, 
in  the  woods  of  Buzenval.  Towards  dusk  the  fight  was  desperate:  the  retreat  was 
sounded;  but  Regnault  was  never  again  seen  alive.  Next  evening  he  was  recognized 
among  the  dead,  who  had  been  carried  to  Pere-la-Chaise;  a  bullet  had  pierced  his  left 
temple.  A  few  days  after— on  the  very  same  day  that  Paris  capitulated— his  funeral 
senice  took  place  in  the  Augustinian  church.  He  was  only  seven-and-twenty.  But, 
although  so  young.  Regnault  lived  long  enough  to  make  his  early  death  a  loss,  in 
some  respects  irreparable,  to  the  French  school  of  painting. 


A  RUSSIAN    PEASANT'S    HOME 


FRENCH   SCHOOL.  245 


In  the  Pas-de-Calais,  in  1827,  Jules  Breton  first  saw  the  light.  He  studied  painting 
under  De  Vigne,  whose  daughter  he  subsequently  married.  He  was  also  a  pupil  of 
Drolling,  and  appeared  in  the  Salon  of  1849.  At  first  his  works  made  but  little  mark; 
but  his  "Return  of  the  Reapers,"  1853,  attracted  attention,  and  was  the  foundation  of 
his  reputation.  Three  of  his  works  in  the  International  Exhibition,  1855,  further  pro- 
moted it,  and  year  after  year  he  gained  a  step  in  public  esteem,  as  a  rising  master  of 
the  younger  contemporary  school.  In  1865,  his  "End  of  the  Day,"  which  is  reproduced  in 
our  engraving  by  L.  Flameng,  was  exhibited,  was  purchased  for  the  collection  of  Prince 
Napoleon,  and  is  one  of  Breton's  best  works.  You  see  here  a  lonely  hay-field,  at  the 
evening  hour,  with  a  group  of  young  Artois  peasant-women  wearied  by  the  long  day's 
work.  On  the  spectator's  left  a  young  mother  is  feeding  her  baby,  just  brought  to  her 
by  her  sister, — the  only  untired  figure  in.  the  group;  for  she  has  not  been  making  hay 
all  day,  but  minding  the  house  and  the  baby.  She  wears  no  sabots  or  wooden  shoes;  no 
covering  on  her  head  to  screen  her  during  the  burning  hours  of  noontide.  The  mother's 
pose  is  admirable;  so  much  need  of  rest,  but  just  so  much  of  it  taken  as  the  imperative 
claims  of  baby  will  permit.  Look  at  her  wearied  hands  folded  limply  round  him;  but 
her  feet  are  firmly  set  together,  that  he  may  lie  securely  on  her  lap.  On  the  other 
side  of  her  a  tired  worker,  with  no  such  encumbrance,  lies  down  uneasily  and  sleeps. 
In  the  central  foreground  are  two  excellent  figures.  They  stand,  but  partly  leaning  on 
their  rakes.  One  of  them  leans  forward,  the  rake  supporting  her  chin;  the  other  is 
inclined  slightly  backwards  towards  the  point  of  support  behind  her.  Repose  is  im- 
pressed on  every  line  of  their  forms,  on  every  fold  of  their  rough  but  whole  garments. 
The  sunburnt  face  and  arms  of  one  of  them  contrasts  with  the  fair  complexion  of  the 
other;  and' either  harmonizes  with  the  warm  tones  of  the  distant  sky.  Behind  them  a 
young  girl  leans  against  a  haycock,  seated  on  the  ground.  Two  elder  women,  on  the 
spectator's  right,  true  to  nature  or  better  inured  to  fatigue,  are  employing  the  first 
moments  of  their  leisure  in  a  visit  to  the  provision-basket.  The  one  who  bends  forward 
is  pouring  out  something  from  a  pitcher,  for  the  other  who  is  kneeling  with  her  back 
to  us.  The  distance  is  filled  with  long  lines  of  haycocks,  the  achievement  of  the  day. 
The  sun  has  gone  down  behind  them  in  a  blaze  of  glory;  twilight  is  just  coming  on. 
Surely  the  beauty  and  the  pathos  of  human  labor  were  never  more  charmingly  depicted ; 
nor  its  well-earned  reward  in  peaceful  rest.  Note,  also,  how  the  lines  of  perspective 
assist  in  imparting  a  sense  of  stability  to  the  whole  composition.  The  three  rakes  have 
one  vanishing  point,  just  above  the  heads  of  the  central  group.  The  quality  of  the 
etching  also  is  well  worthy  of  mention:  the  fine  gradations  of  distance,  the  management 
of  light  and  shade,  the  roundness  of  relief  in  all  the  figures.  Shut  one  eye  and  look 
at  the  picture  with  the  other,  through  the  closed  fist,  taking  care  that  the  light  falls  from 


MASTERPIECES    OF   EUROPEAN   ART. 


the  proper  side;  ami  the  figures  will  seem  as  though  they  were  solid.  Lastly,  note  that 
though  the  sun  has  set  behind  the  extreme  distance,  a  bright  light  is  falling  from  the 
spectator's  left,  throwing  strong  shadows  in  a  corresponding  direction.  We  require  no 
great  insight  to  perceive  that  the  low  summer  moon  must  be  rising.  We  also  illustrate 
M.  Breton,  by  an  engraving  of  his  "Eve  of  St.  John's  Day,"  on  page  233. 

Jean  Leon  Gekume.  one  of  the  most  learned  of  living  French  painters,  was  born 
at  Vesoul  (Haute  Saone.)  1S24.  He  acquired  the  rudiments  of  his  art  in  his  native 
town,  and,  about  the  age  of  seventeen,  went  to  Paris,  and  entered  as  a  pupil  the  studio 
of  Dclaroche,  whom  he  afterwards  accompanied  to  Italy.  His  earliest  exhibited  picture 
was  a  "Cock- Fight."  1847.  He  had  evidently  not  yet  settled  the  style  that  best  suited  him, 
for  next  year,  of  his  two  pictures,  one  represented  "Christ,  his  Mother,  and  St.  John," 
and  the  other  "Anacreon,  Bacchus,  and  Cupid.".  Scenes  of  antique  character  succeeded, 
in  which  the  artist  had  imitators  who  were  termed  Pompeii-ists  or  Neo-Greeks. 

In  1854  Gerome  made  a  tour  in  Turkey,  and  along  the  Danube;  and,  a  few  years 
later,  another  in  Egypt,  enriching  his  portfolio  with  sketches  of  what  struck  him  most. 
We  grace  our  pages  with  an  engraving  by  Jeens,  of  his  "Dante."  Among  his  more 
recent  works  may  be  enumerated  "Louis  XIV.  and  Moliere,"  the  "Reception  of  the 
Siamese  Ambassadors,"  the  "Death  of  Marshal  Ney,"  and  the  "Monk  at  the  Door  of  a 
Mosque,"  which  we  engrave  on  page  221.  Gerome's  pictures  have  been  popularized 
by  engravings  and  photographs  beyond  most  others.     His  works  fetch  very  high  prices. 

Eugene  Fkomentin  is  a  native  of  Rochelle;  born  in  1820.  At  the  end  of  his 
studies  he  took  M.  Louis  Cabat  for  his  master  in  landscape;  then  traveled  in  Algeria, 
and  made  an  extensive  series  of  sketches.  His  debut  in  the  Salon  of  1849  won  him 
a  second-class  medal  for  his  Algerian  subjects.  He  revisited  Africa,  1852,  with  an 
archaeological  commission,  drawing  and  writing  as  he  traveled  about  the  Sahara.  In 
1859  he  succeeded  in  gaining  a  first-class  medal.  His  works,  which  are  very  numerous, 
chiefly  comprise  African  and  Arab  subjects,  such  as  our  illustration,  the  original  of 
which  is  in  the  Luxembourg  Museum.  The  "Arab  Falconer"  is  reckoned  one  of  M. 
Fromentin's  best  rendered  and  most  interesting  pictures.  Falconry,  in  Algeria,  is  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  the  Emirs,  or  high  Arab  chiefs.  To  be  seen  bearing  a  falcon  is 
a  visible  patent  of  nobility.  A  Bedouin  meeting  a  falconer  in  the  desert  alights  from 
his  horse  and  pays  him  humble  homage.  The  falconer  in  the  illustration  rushes  forward, 
full  gallop,  maddened  by  the  wild  joy  of  the  ride  and  of  the  chase,  and  stimulating  his 
birds  to  follow  their  quarry,  the  hare.  His  figure,  though  a  little  barbaric,  is  full  of 
vigor  and  motion.  Elegance,  high  finish,  and  harmonious  coloring  are  among  the 
painter's  leading  characteristics.  His  published  accounts  of  adventures  in  Africa  arc 
also  highly  interesting  and  popular. 


.   ---   rr*^^*    _ 


ENTRE    DEUX  AMOURS. 


ENGRAVED     BY    W.  ROEFE      FROM     THE     GROUP     IN    MARBLE     BY    CARRIER    BELLEUSE 


UEBBIE    &  BARRIE 


FRENCH   SCHOOL.  247 


Alexandre  Cabanel,  born  at  Montpellier,  1823,  became  a  pupil  of  Picot,  and 
brought  out  a  religious  picture  in  the  Salon  of  1844.  The  year  after  he  gained  the 
first  prize  of  Rome,  also  with  a  sacred  subject.  After  terminating  his  residence  in 
Rome,  the  first  picture  he  exhibited  which  made  an  impression  was  his  "  Death  of  Moses." 
It  reappeared  in  1855,  among  the  pictures  of  the  International  Exhibition,  with  two 
other  religious  works,  the  "Christian  Martyr"  and  the  "Glorification  of  St.  Louis." 
Portraits,  religious  works, — an  example  of  which  we  engrave  on  page  225,  the  "Annunci- 
ation,"— and  genre  seem  to  have  employed  the  artist's  pencil  in  nearly  equal  proportions. 
In  1863  he  produced  a  work  in  a  different  style,  which  obtained  some  applause,  the 
"Birth  of  Venus"  from  the  sea-foam.  Cabanel's  portraits,  particularly  those  of  women, 
have  been  among  his  most  successful  works  hitherto.  His  brush  was  also  in  requisition 
for  the  decoration  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville.  He  succeeded  Horace  Vernet  as  a  member  of 
the  Academy  of  the  Beaux  Arts,  and  was  appointed  professor  of  painting  in  the  school. 

Rosalie,  or  Rosa  Bonheur,  a  native  of  Bordeaux,  may  be  said  to  have  been  born 
an  artist.  The  daughter  and  pupil  of  a  painter  of  merit,  and  the  sister  of  three  artists, 
she  amused  herself,  even  in  early  childhood,  with  making  sketches  of  animals  and 
children,  and  then  cutting  them  out  in  paper.  Her  family  removed  to  Paris  while  Rosa 
was  still  a  child,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  she  lost  her  mother.  Reverses  of  fortune 
also  overtook  the  family,  and  Raymond,  the  father,  had  to  support  himself  by  painting, 
while  the  children  were  sent  to  boarding-schools.  As  Rosa  grew  in  years  her  passion 
for  Art  also  grew.  Her  father  then  took  her  training  in  hand  himself,  and  before  she 
was  out  of  her  teens  her  first  picture  was  accepted  and  exhibited  in  the  Salon  of  1841. 
She  had  worked  hard  for  this  early  distinction.  She  often  passed  hours  of  the  day  in 
the  abattoirs,  watching  the  tricks  and  manners  of  animals.  It  was  there  only  that  a 
Parisian  artist  could  see  them. 

Having  secured  a  start,  Rosa's  pencil  was  never  idle.  AH  kinds  of  domestic 
animals,  horses,  ponies,  asses,  cows,  sheep,  goats  and  dogs  were  her  favorite  study,  and 
were  reproduced  from  year  to  year  at  the  Salon,  till  her  commissions  became  too 
numerous  to  permit  her  to  exhibit.  One  of  these  years  her  father,  then  on  his  death- 
bed, asked  to  see  Rosa's  last  work.  It  was  brought  to  him, — the  "Oxen  Ploughing," 
engraved  for  this  work  by  Mr.  Moran, — and  greatly  affected  him.  It  is  now  in  the 
Luxembourg.  In  1853  Rosa  exhibited  her  celebrated  "Marche  aux  Chevaux"  (Horse 
Market.)  At  the  International  Exhibition  of  1855  she  produced  a  large  landscape 
entitled  the  "Fenaison  (haymaking)  en  Auvergne."  In  1867  she  exhibited  a  number  of 
fine  pictures  of  shepherds  with  sheep,  of  cattle,  of  deer,  and  of  ponies.  Rosa  Bonheur 
has  long  resided  in  the  country,  near  Fontainebleau,  where  she  studies  and  paints 
without  interruption.     Visitors  carry  off  her  works  as  fast  as  they  are  finished,  and  they 


248  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


are  now  seldom  or  never  to  be  seen  in  exhibitions.  Rosa's  eldest  brother,  Jules 
Isidore,  is  a  sculptor  of  superior  talent.  Her  younger  brother,  Francxhs  Auguste,  has 
made  his  mark  with  landscapes  studied  in  the  Pyrenees,  the  Cantal,  and  the  Auvergne. 

Paui  Q  STAVE  DoRfe,  whom  we  represent  in  this  work  by  two  superb  engravings, 
•  Homeless,"  on  steel,  by  M.  Saddler,  and  "Alexander  Weeping  over  the  Body  of  Darius," 
on  wood,  on  page  231,  is  the  best  known  of  living  French  painters  out  of  France,  he 
is  a  native  of  Strasbourg,  where  he  was  born  in  1833.  His  education  was  finished  in 
Paris.  His  first  essays  in  Art  were  in  lithography.  In  his  sixteenth  year  he  contributed 
to  Philipon's  Journal  pour  Rire  a  series  of  "The  Labors  of  Hercules,"  which  excited 
attention.  His  connection  with  that  periodical  lasted  a  long  time.  Other  publications 
of  a  similar  class,  such  as  the  Journal  pour  Tous,  competed  with  one  another  for  his 
work.  Dore  next  undertook  the  illustration  of  standard  classical  works;  of  Rabelais, 
Balzac,  Dante,  Cervantes,  Milton,  La  Fontaine,  and  Tennyson.  The  Bible  also  engaged 
his  busy  hand. 

Dore  came  out  as  a  painter  in  1853,  in  several  pictures  of  natural  genre,  and  in 
landscape.  Thenceforth  his  brush  was  employed  on  many  various  subjects:  "Scenes 
from  Dante's  Poem,"  "The  Deluge,"  "The  Battle  of  Inkermann,"  "Tobias  and  the  Angel;" 
and,  perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  all,  living  sketches  of  Spanish  peasants.  His  larger 
and  more  ambitious  works  are  less  agreeable.  Dore  works  too  much  and  studies  too 
little.  His  reputation  is  made  indeed  for  the  present;  but,  if  it  is  to  endure,  quality 
must,  sooner  or  later,  be  aimed  at  rather  than  quantity.  A  German  critic  relates  a  fable 
which  applies  well  to  Dore  and  his  works.  A  she-wolf  one  day  was  boasting  of  her 
litter  of  half-a-dozen  cubs  to  a  lioness,  with  implied  pity  and  contempt  for  the  single 
cub  of  the  lioness.     "  It  is  true,  I  have  only  one,"  was  the  reply;  "but  then  he  is  a  lion." 

Gustave  Brion,  a  native  of  Rothau,  Vosges,  1824,  learnt  drawing  at  Strasbourg, 
under  Guerin,  and  brought  out  his  first  Alsatian  picture  in  1847.  The  peasants  of  Alsace 
and  die  banks  of  the  Rhine  are  this  artist's  specialty,  occasionally  varied  by  subjects 
taken  from  the  manners  of  Brittany.  He  also  illustrated,  a  few  years  ago,  Victor  Hugo's 
novels  of  "Ndtre  Dame  de  Paris,"  and  "Miserables,"  in  two-hundred  and  fifty  designs. 
We  offer  an  engraving  by  Rajon  of  "The  Reading  of  the  Bible,"  exhibited  in  the 
Salon  in  1868;  it  is  remarkable  on  several  accounts.  As  a  study  of  the  costumes,  the 
manners,  and  the  homes  of  the  Alsatian  farmers,  it  is  full  of  historical  interest.  Since 
this  picture  was  first  exhibited,  Alsace  has  ceased  to  be  part  of  France,  and  has  relapsed 
to  its  original  nationality.  A  group  of  nine  persons,  women,  children  and  servants,  are 
skilfully  ranged  in  front  of  the  old  farmer,  to  hear  him  read  the  Bible.  The  effect  pro- 
duced on  the  auditors  varies  considerably.  Of  the  two  women  next  him,  one  listens  with 
quiet  attention,  the  othr r  with  eager  sympathy.     The  youngest  child,  who  stands  between 


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P.    L1GHTFO0T    Snll' 


CHERRIES     RIFE 


Published,  try   OEORGE   BARRIE.Phxiodclp hta.. 


FRENCH   SCHOOL.  249 


them,  can  with  difficulty  be  kept  quiet;  his  eyes  betrays  how  far  away  his  thoughts  are 
roving.  Two  daughters  of  the  family,  seated  immediately  behind  the  front  group,  are 
apparently  lulled,  by  the  quiet  monotony  of  the  reader,  into  a  state  of  mind  between 
thinking  and  dreaming.  The  servants  at  the  back  listen  with  propriety,  perhaps  only 
dimly  understanding  what  they  hear.  The  old  reader  himself  is  completely  absorbed  in 
what  he  is  doing.  His  left  forefinger  serves  to  assure  him  of  the  place ;  with  his  right 
hand  he  throws  emphasis  into  his  words,  raising  and  lowering  it  as  the  sense  seems  to 
him  to  require.  The  very  dog  knows  better  than  to  move  about.  The  vast  stove  near 
the  door,  with  its  pitcher  of  water  to  moisten  the  air  of  the  chamber ;  the  tall  eight-day 
clock  j  the  dresser,  and  cupboard,  and  chairs  of  old-fashioned  pattern,  all  tell  their  story, 
and  identify  the  province  they  belong  to.  The  picture  has  other  technical  merits  as  a 
composition,  which  artists  will  understand  and  appreciate.  It  is  impossible  to  look  long 
at  it  without  imagining  that  the  old  man  is  reading  aloud,  and  that  in  another  moment 
we  shall  hear  his  voice. 

We  offer  an  example  of  Madame  Henriette  Browne's,  which  is  a  pseudonym 
for  Mademoiselle  Sophia  de  Bouteiller,  descended  from  an  ancient  noble  family  in 
Brittany,  and  who  became  Madam  de  Saux,  by  her  marriage  in  1855  with  an  under- 
secretary in  the  French  Foreign  Office.  In  the  "  Critics,"  engraved  by  C.  W.  Sharpe, 
Madame  Browne  sustains  her  reputation  as  a  popular  painter  of  genre.  Her  early  works 
are  full  of  nature  and  feeling ;  and  her  execution,  if  slight,  is  distinguished.  Since  then 
she  has  exhibited  many  portraits  and  scenes  of  Oriental  manners  of  a  riper  character. 

Charles  Francois  Daubigny,  an  eminent  French  landscape  painter,  was  born  in 
Paris  in  181 7.  He  learnt  his  first  Art  lessons  from  his  father.  At  fifteen  he  could  paint 
little  pictures,  such  as  are  seen  on  the  boxes  of  Spa,  and  other  similar  articles  which 
tourists  much  affect.  Thus  placed  above  the  reach  of  want,  he  applied  himself  seriously, 
at  the  same  time,  to  painting  on  a  wider  field,  studying  for  a  while  under  Delaroche, 
and  always  working  from  nature.  A  gold  medal  of  the  first  class  was  awarded  in  1867 
to  Daubigny's  paintings  and  etchings.  His  son  and  pupil,  Karl- Pierre,  born  in  1843,  *s 
devoted  to  the  same  branch  of  Art,  which,  however,  he  is  said  to  cultivate  rather  in  the 
style  of  Corot. 

Jean  Francois  Gigoux  is  a  native  of  Besancon,  born  in  1806.  He  began  life  as  a 
blacksmith,  if  we  are  to  believe  the  Salon  Catalogue  of  1834.  From  Besancon  he  removed 
to  Paris,  and  exhibited,  in  1831,  several  lead-pencil  portraits.  A  year  or  two  later  he 
appeared  as  a  painter  of  genre  or  of  portraits.  The  romantic  school  claimed  him,  and 
perhaps  excessively  vaunted  his  merits,  which  produced  a  corresponding  depreciation  of 
his  talent  in  other  quarters.  Gigoux  has  been  a  diligent  exhibitor,  and  has  worked 
honestly  and  hard  to  improve  both  his  drawing  and  coloring. 


aso  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 

Jules  Dupre  is  an  instance  of  a  youth  lost  to  commerce  and  gained  for  Art,  by  his 
early  and  irrepressible  turn  for  drawing.  Nancy  is  his  native  city,  1812  the  year  of 
his  birth.  Landscape  is  his  chosen  specialty.  His  impressions  are  derived  from  nature 
direct  He  has  been  long  and  favorably  known  as  a  successful  exhibitor;  several  of 
his  best  works  have  found  their  way  into  the  Luxembourg.  Twelve  of  his  landscapes 
were  placed  in  the  memorable  International  Collection  of  1867.  The  public  appreciation 
of  Dupre  is  proved  by  die  rising  prices  received  at  sales  of  his  pictures. 

Leon  Belly,  a  pupil  of  Troyon,  and  a  native  of  St.  Omer,  on  completing  his  artist- 
education,  repaired  to  the  East,  like  Decamps ;  to  Egypt  and  Syria,  and  repeated  his 
visit  several  years  afterwards.  His  best  inspirations  in  landscape  are  derived  from  those 
picturesque  lands.  At  the  present  time  he  is  among  the  very  first  French  painters  of 
Oriental  scenes.  Though  essentially  a  landscape  painter,  he  understands  figures  and  cos- 
tumes.   He  is  the  author,  also,  of  several  good  portraits,  as  of  "  Manin,"  the  Venetian  patriot. 

Alexandre  Jean  Baptiste  Hesse,  a  nephew  of  Nicolas-Auguste  Hesse,  and  only 
eleven  years  his  junior,  was  a  pupil  of  Gros,  and  completed  his  studies  in  Italy.  A 
picture  of  "Titian's  Funeral  Honors,"  painted  at  Venice,  1833,  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
repute.  The  Chapel  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  at  St.  Sulpice,  attests  his  powers  as  a  church 
decorator.  History,  religion  and  genre,  in  turn,  engaged  his  pencil.  He  was  elected,  in 
1867,  a  member  of  the  Institute,  in  the  room  of  Ingres. 

Eugene  Louis  Gabriel  Isabey,  son  and  pupil  of  his  more  eminent  father,  Jean 
Baptiste,  carries  on  his  traditions  of  art,  but  as  a  painter  of  genre  and  sea  pieces.  His 
works,  which  are  highly  appreciated,  have  been  exhibited  in  successive  Salons  during  the 
last  half  century. 

Km  1 1 1:  LEvy  was  born  in  Paris,  1826.  A  pupil  of  Picot  and  De  Pujol,  and  of  the 
school  of  the  Beaux  Arts,  he  won  the  Roman  Prize  in  1854.  From  Italy  he  sent  home 
several  pictures,  one  of  which  "  Noah  Cursing  Canaan,"  was  purchased  by  the  State. 
He  has  secured  a  good  reputation  as  an  artist  of  elevated  style,  and  excellent  qualities 
as  a  painter.  For  the  last  five-and-twenty  years  his  name  is  familiar  to  frequenters  of 
the  Paris  Salon. 

The  "Herodias" — engraved  for  this  work  by  Boilvin — of  M.  Levy  was  exhibited  in 
the  Salon  in  1872.  As  a  work  of  art  it  is  rich  in  detail,  picturesque  and  full  of  life. 
The  moment  when  Salome  enters  the  hall,  bearing  to  her  mother  the  head  of  the 
Baptist,  is  .that  chosen  by  the  artist  for  his  dramatic  effect.  Every  figure  in  the  scene  is 
thrown  into  agitation;  even  Herodias  is  disturbed  as  she  half  turns  to  her  daughter. 
Salome  alone  looks  rigid  and  defiant,  yet  with  a  strange  sort  of  charm  about  her  that 
seems  to  fascinate  like  the  look  of  a  serpent.  The  sense  of  universal  flutter  is  pur- 
chased at  some  sacrifice  of  definition  and  clear  outline.     A  diagonal  arrangement  of  the 


ENGRAVED     BY    G.  STODART. 


FROM     THE    GROUP,   IN     BRONZE.  BY    M.  MATHURIN-MOREAU. 


GF.I3BIK   &  IjAKhlK. 


FRENCH  SCHOOL.  251 


composition  gains  space  for  more  figures,  and  gives  more  variety  in  distance  than  would 
otherwise  be  possible.  A  rich  architectural  background,  partly  in  the  open  air,  completes 
the  work.     The  lines  also  follow  the  diagonal  disposition  of  the  figures. 

Two  painters  of  the  name  of  Frere  have  established  a  reputation  for  Art.  Pierre 
Edouard  has  exhibited  his  works  in  various  Salons,  and  with  distinction,  during  the  last 
thirty  years.  Born  in  1819,  he  was  a  pupil  of  Delaroche  and  of  the  Beaux  Arts  School, 
and  is  a  painter  of  genre.     A  fair  share  of  official  recognition  has  been  accorded  to  him. 

Charles  Theodore  Frere  has  been  an  exhibitor  for  upwards  of  forty  years.  A 
pupil  of  Coignet  and  of  Roqueplan,  he  traveled  in  the  East  and  in  Algeria;  and  was 
present  at  the  capture  of  Constantine.  His  style  has  been  much  influenced  by  his  recol- 
lections of  his  Oriental  and  African  journeys.  His  works  consist,  in  great  part,  of  views 
in  Algeria,  in  Egypt,  in  Syria,  and  Turkey. 

Joseph  Nicolas  Robert  Fleury  was  born  at  Cologne  in  1797,  at  that  time  in  the 
French  Department  of  the  Roer.  He  studied  art  in  Paris  under  Girodet,  Gros  and 
Horace  Vernet,  passed  several  years  in  Italy,  and  first  exhibited  in  the  Salon  of  1824. 
His  works  are  familiar  to  the  frequenters  of  the  Salon.  They  are  principally  historical, 
and  illustrate  biography.  He  has  more  than  once  held  up  to  reprobation  religious 
intolerance,  in  his  "Scene  from  St.  Bartholomew,"  and  one  or  two  representations  of  the 
Inquisition.  In  portraiture,  also,  Fleury  is  remarkable.  He  has  attained  classic  rank  as 
a  painter.  His  works  are  many  of  them  in  the  French  National  Collection,  and  have 
been  frequently  reproduced.  He  succeeded  Granet  at  the  Academy  of  the  Beaux  Arts 
in  1850,  and  Blondel  in  1855,  as  professor  in  the  school.  In  1865  he  held  the  director- 
ship of  the  French  Academy,  Rome,  for  a  short  time.  His  son  is  a  rising  artist  in 
history,  and  has  gained  honors  in  more  than  one  Salon. 

Adolphe  Yvon,  born  in  1817,  is  a  native  of  Eschwiller  (in  the  Department  of  the 
Moselle.)  His  ordinary  education  finished,  he  repaired  to  Paris,  against  the  wish  of  his 
friends,  and  became  a  pupil  of  Delaroche.  In  1843  he  traveled  in  Russia,  and  exhibited 
a  number  of  sketches  of  that  country  a  few  years  afterwards.  Pictures  of  genre,  like 
the  "Russian  Peasants,"  engraved  by  R.  C.  Bell  for  our  pages,  and  portraits,  formed  his 
principal  style  at  first.  In  the  Russian  war  he  was  sent  officially  to  the  Crimea ;  and 
exhibited  in  1857,  the  "Storming  of  the  Malakoff,"  a  picture  commissioned  for  Versailles. 
The  subsequent  Italian  war  also  called  forth  his  powers,  in  depicting  the  victories  of 
Solferino  and  Magenta.  "The  learning,  the  life,  the  effectiveness  and  the  vigorous  touch 
of   Yvon's  manner  are  universally  acknowledged,"  says  a  French  critic. 

L.  Bonnat,  born  at  Bayonne,  in  the  lower  Pyrenees,  is  well  known  to  American 
collectors.  We  engrave  on  page  237  his  "Sisters"  which  he  exhibited  at  Vienna  in 
1873.     He  is  a  pupil  of  MM.  Mudrazo  and  Coignet.     He  was  decorated  in   1867. 


2Sa  VASTER  PIECES   OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


Jean  Louis  Meissonier,  a  son  of  poor  parents,  was  born  at  Lyons  in  1811.  At 
nineteen  years  of  age  he  went  to  Paris  to  learn  to  be  a  painter,  having  already  got  over 
the  first  difficulties  in  his  native  city.  For  a  time  he  was  obliged,  in  company  with 
Daubigny,  to  paint  pictures  at  five  francs  the  square  yard,  for  exportation.  His  superior 
talent  attracted  notice ;  and  he  was  admitted  by  Cogniet  among  his  pupils.  Meissonier 
selected  a  genre  of  his  own ;  pictures  of  very  small  size,  but  possessing  the  utmost 
finish  and  sharpness  of  touch,  exactness  of  detail,  and  truth  of  outline.  Meissonier  first 
exhibited  in  1836,  and  for  twenty  years  afterwards  continued  to  advance  in  public  favor. 
The  International  Exhibition  of  1855 — a  kind  of  festival  for  so  many  French  artists — was 
an  occasion  of  triumph  for  Meissonier.  Since  then,  although  now  wealthy  and  famous,  he 
works  at  his  microscopical  pictures  with  the  same  unwearied  care  as  at  first.  After  the 
Italian  campaign  he  attempted  a  new  style  of  subject — the  "Napoleon  III.  at  Solferino," 
surrounded  by  his  staff.  It  is  an  historical  picture  in  miniature.  Several  other  works  in 
the  new  style  followed.  Mr.  Probosco,  of  Cincinnati,  purchased  a  "Charge  of  Cavalry" 
for  $30,000.  Meissonier's  small  pictures,  of  which  the  dimensions  are  measured  by 
inches,  often  fetch  prices  which,  a  few  years  ago,  would  have  seemed  fabulous. 

The  illustration — "The  Audience,"  engraved  by  M.  Carey — selected  from  Meissonier, 
shows  a  fashionably  dressed  courtier  waiting  his  turn  in  the  great  man's  chamber  of 
audience.  Every  detail  of  his  costume  defies-  criticism ;  his  careless  air  befits  a  man  who 
can  trick  himself  out  so  minutely.  The  whole  is  naturally  worked  out,  although  the 
nature  is  of  no  exalted  stamp. 

Meissonier  must  look  to  his  laurels.  He  is  closely  followed  by  some  excellent 
imitators.  Last  summer  a  small  painting  was  exhibited  in  London,  at  MM.  Goupil's, 
which  very  closely  resembled  Meissonier's  genre.  A  single  figure,  also  of  a  highly 
finished  gentleman  of  fashion,  with  exquisite  feeling  of  light  and  shade,  was  offered  for 
$600.     The  painter's  name  is  Berne-Bellecour. 

Although  M.  Alexandre  Bida  is  little  known  as  a  painter,  yet,  as  a  draughtsman 
and  illustrator  of  books  he  has  earned  a  reputation  so  high  as  to  entitle  him  to  a  place 
in  the  history  of  contemporaneous  French  art.  Toulouse  is  his  native  city.  The  com- 
paratively few  paintings  which  have  represented  him  in  various  Salons  were  for  the  most 
part  reproductions  of  Eastern  scenes,  in  the  manner  of  genre.  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Con- 
stantinople supplied  him  with  subjects.  His  drawings,  however,  are  more  esteemed  than 
his  pictures.  But.  even  in  those,  critics  complain  of  the  artist's  too  minute  finish,  even 
in  subordinate  parts.  It  is  everywhere  a  ground  of  China-ink,  relieved  by  fine,  white 
touches.  Force  never  animates  the  artist's  elbow.  Detail  is  pushed  to  the  verge  of 
coldness.  With  less  perfection,  M.  Bida  would  be  the  most  perfect  of  living  draughts- 
men.    Of  late  years  he  has   found   the   illustration  of  books  a   more   direct  and   more 


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FRENCH  SCHOOL. 


253 


profitable  path  to  fame  and  other  rewards  of  diligence.  He  has  illustrated,  for  example, 
the  works  of  Alfred  de  Musset,  and  an  edition  of  the  Bible.  A  drawing  of  his,  entitled 
the  "Wall  of  Solomon,"  obtained  great  popularity  among  the  Israelite  community  in  Paris. 
It  is  said  to  have  cost  the  publisher  $1200,  and  to  have  afterwards  passed  into  the 
possession  of  a  wealthy  financier,  on  condition  of  paying  the  artist  $10,000  more. 

M.  Herrmann-Leon,  born  at  Havre,  is  a  rising  artist  of  the  present  day.  We 
engrave  his  "Pause  in  the  Argument"  on  page  235, — a  picture  which  tells  its  own  story. 
He  is  a  pupil  of   MM.  Fromentin  and  Rousseau. 

Felix  Ziem  was  born  at  Braune,  Cote-d'Or,  about  1822,  studied  painting  in  Paris, 
spent  three  years  (1 845-1 848)  in  traveling  in  Italy  and  the  East.  He  first  appeared  as 
a  landscape  painter  in  the  Salon  of  1849;  and  is  well  known  as  the  author  of  numerous 
views  in  Venice,  Constantinople,  Tripoli,  and  Marseilles.  Our  illustration,  "Venice," 
engraved  by  M.  L.  Gaucherel,  represents  the  Lagoon,  Venice,  with  gondolas  plying  on  its 
waters.  Across  the  Lagoon  we  observe  the  Ducal  Palace,  the  Campanile  or  Bell  Tower, 
and  the  three  domes  of  St.  Mark.  Further  off,  on  the  spectator's  left,  are  the  domes 
and  towers  of  St.  George. 

Gustave  Courbet,  reckoned  chief  of  the  French  Realist  School  in  our  time,  is  a 
native  of  Ornans  (Doubs),  born  in  18 19.  He  proposed  to  devote  himself  to  the 
study  of  the  law,  and  went  to  Paris  for  that  purpose  at  the  age  of  twenty.  But  his 
passion  for  painting  was  too  strong  for  him,  and  he  resumed  the  Art  studies  which  he 
had  already  begun  at  Besancon.  He  took  lessons  for  a  short  time  from  Hesse,  and 
worked  at  the  Flemish,  Spanish  and  Venetian  pictures  in  the  Louvre.  For  several  years 
his  own  paintings  produced  little  impression  ;  they  were  not  unfrequently  refused  admit- 
tance into  the  Salons.  It  was  not  till  after  ten  years  of  patient  effort  that  Courbet  made 
himself  felt.  Out  of  nine  works  he  exhibited  in  1850,  consisting  of  portrait  and  genre, 
one  in  particular  excited  the  critics  to  praise  and  blame  with  equal  warmth.  This  was 
entitled  the  "Stone-Breakers." 

Courbet  threw  himself  with  characteristic  ardor  into  the  Commune  civil  war  which 
convulsed  Paris  at  the  close  of  the  late  German  occupation.  He  organized  an  attack 
on  the  famous  column  in  the  Place  Vendome,  composed  of  cannon  taken  at  Austerlitz, 
and  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  Napoleon  I.  Courbet  and  his  associates  leveled  it  with 
the  ground.  When  order  was  established,  the  artist  was  tried  and  condemned  by  a 
Council  of  War,  but  escaped  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law,  partly  on  account  of  his 
eminence  as  a  painter.     He  died  in    1878. 

Clarles  Gleyre,  of  whose  work  we  give  an  example  in  the  "  Evening  Hymn," 
engraved  by  M.  Lemercier,  was  born  in  Switzerland.  Originally  a  field-laborer,  he  was 
enabled  by  an  uncle  to  take  instruction  in  Paris,  by  which  he  profited  so  much  that  he 


254  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN  ART. 


became  one  of  the  first  masters  of  the  French  modern  school,  to  whom  Delaroche 
transferred  his  own  pupils. 

Antoine  Emile  Plassan  was  born  at  Bordeaux,  and,  in  1852,  was  awarded  a  medal 
for  genre  painting  by  the  Academic  des  Beaux  Arts.  "The  Foot-Bath"  was  exhibited 
in  1854,  and  gained  a  gold  medal  at  the  Salon.  It  is  one  of  this  artist's  most  charming 
genre  compositions, — it  is  almost  a  marvel  of  delicate  manipulation  and  high  finish, 
although  the  lady,  we  think,  shows  some  small  degree  of  affectedness  in  her  attitude 
and  action  ;  this,  however,  can  scarcely  be  considered  a  venal  offence  under  the  circum- 
stances in  which  she  is  placed.  Her  fille  de  c/iambre  is  as  graceful  a  representation  as 
the  mistress.  M.  Plassan  has  not  departed  from  the  path  in  which  he  started  as  an 
artist,  and  at  the  Exposition  Universelle,  of  1878.  he  exhibited  two  pictures  of  a  genre 
character,  which  excited  a  great  deal  of  admiration. 

The  son  of  M.  Leopold  Flameng  has  already  obtained  a  good  reputation  for  a  young 
artist  in  France,  and  he  is  looked  forward  to  as  one  of  the  army  of  artists  who  are  to 
sustain  France  in  her  position  of  mistress  of  the  art  world.  The  father  of  such  a 
promising  pupil  has  painted  few  pictures ;  his  early  career  of  an  aqua-fortist  having 
gained  him  a  world-wide  reputation,  his  time  is  very  completely  taken  up  with  thus 
translating  other  men's  creations.  But  he  sometimes  shows  his  own  ability  as  a 
draughtsman  as  well  as  an  etcher,  and  an  example  of  this  we  have  given  in  "  Columbus 
Before  the  Junta,"  which  will  remind  our  readers  that  the  career  of  a  discoverer  has 
its  periods  of  depression  as  well  as  of  exultation. 

W.  A.  Bouguereau  is  a  French  painter,  who  enjoys  a  good  reputation  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  examples  of  his  works  in  private  galleries  in 
the  seaboard  cities.  He  was  a  pupil  of  M.  Picot,  and,  in  1850,  was  awarded  tho  grand 
prize  of  Rome;  he  proceeded  there  to  study.  His  works  are  all  of  the  genre  kind,  of 
which  we  offer  an  excellent  example  in  "The  Little  Marauders,"  engraved  on  page  229. 
M.  Bouguereau  makes  a  fine  display  of  his  works  at  the  Paris  Exposition  Universelle, 
of  1878.  of  which  we  noted  a  "Flora  and  Zephyr,"  an  exceptionally  good  composition 
and  with  the  high  finish  which  characterizes  all  his  works. 

Jean  Louis  H\m<>n  was  born  at  Plonha,  in  the  North  of  France,  in  1821,  and  in 
1840  entered  the  studio  of  Paul  Delaroche.  A  few  years  later  he  entered  the  Royal 
Manufactory  at  Sevres,  where  he  executed  some  remarkable  works,  one  of  which,  an 
enameled  casket,  gained  him  a  medal  at  the  London  Exhibition  of  1851.  In  1853  he 
exhibited  at  the  Salon,  "  My  Sister  Is  Not  In."  for  which  he  was  awarded  a  medal,  and 
the  picture  was  bought  by  the  Emperor.  The  compositions  of  M.  Hamon  are  frequently 
devoted  to  the  delineation  of  domestic  life  of  the  ancient  Greeks;  but  whatever  the 
subjects,  they  are  invariably  characterized  by  delicacy  and  grace.     His  picture,  which  we 


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FRENCH   SCHOOL.  255 


engrave,  "  The  Skein  Winder,"  is  a  fair  example  of  this  master's  works,  which  are 
remarkable  for  purity  of  design,  harmony  of  color,  and  elegance  in  the  figures. 

M.  Mathurin-Moreau  is  a  French  sculptor  of  eminence,  who  first  made  his  mark 
at  the  French  International  Exhibition  of  1855,  by  a  beautiful  marble  statue,  "Summer," 
which  gained  him  a  medal.  The  "  Cornelia"  was  exhibited  at  the  International  Exhibition 
of  1867,  where  it  was  purchased  by  a  bronze  founder,  who  benefited  the  public  by 
issuing  small  bronze  copies.  The  story  of  "  Cornelia" — the  mother  of  the  Gracchi — is 
too  well  known  to  the  readers  of  Plutarch  to  be  told  here.  The  artist  has  chosen  the 
moment  when  a  lady  of  the  Campania  made  a  display  of  her  jeweled  ornaments  in  the 
house  of  Cornelia,  and  entreated  the  latter  to  exhibit  her  own ;  the  Roman  matron 
producing  her  two  surviving  sons,  says,  "These  are  the  only  jewels  of  which  I  can 
boast." 

M.  Carrier-Belleuse  is  another  eminent  French  sculptor,  an  example  of  whose 
work,  "  Entre  deux  amours,"  we  have  engraved  in  stipple  on  steel.  The  group  belongs 
to  the  class  "Pictorial,"  and  not  intended  to  tell  anything  in  particular;  it  produces 
satisfaction  by  its  pleasing  execution. 

Albert  Anker  was  a  pupil  of  M.  Gleyre,  whose  ability  as  a  teacher  gained  him 
high  commendation  from  Paul  Delaroche.  In  1866  M.  Anker  obtained  a  medal  for 
works  exhibited  at  the  Salon.  His  pictures  of  young  children  are  specially  esteemed  in 
France,  and  of  these  the  "  Reading  Lesson"  is  a  good  example ;  and  the  Messrs.  Varin 
have  made  us  an  engraving  of  it  with  which  we  are  charmed.  It  is  brilliant  in  effect 
yet  delicate  in  tone ;  the  group  is  excellent  in  composition,  and  both  figures  are  won- 
derfully true  to  nature. 

The  school  of  French  art  is  to  be  congratulated  on  possessing  such  a  capital  worker 
as  M.  Emile  Metzmacher.  He  is  a  pupil  of  MM.  Boulanger  and  Gleyre,  and  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  original  conceptions  in  genre  painting.  The  "  Cherries  Ripe" 
contains  a  touch  of  playful  humor ;  the  cherry  gatherer  evidently  tempts  the  lady  to 
take  the  bunch  in  her  lips:  she  will  not  understand  his  meaning,  but  holds  her  robe 
to  catch  them.  The  rich  dresses  of  the  ladies  are  painted  with  the  utmost  care  and 
fidelity,  and  in  a  manner  we  are  accustomed  to  see  in  the  works  of  Terburg  and 
Meissonier. 

Charles  Louis  MCller  is  a  distinguished  artist  of  the  modern  French  school.  He 
is  a  native  of  Paris  and  a  pupil  of  Gros  and  Coignet.  In  1838  he  gained,  at  the 
Salon,  a  third  class  medal;  in  1846  a  second  class  one;  in  1848  a  first  class  one;  and 
in  1859  he  was  decorated  with  the  ribbon  of  an  officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 
Muller  has  painted  a  large  number  of  small  pictures  of  rural  scenes  of  Italy  and  else- 
where:   one  of  these,  "The  Fountain,"  is  engraved  for  our  work  by  M.  Cousen.     Some 


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THE   BELGIC   AND    OTHER    SCHOOLS.  257 

that  they  should  be  buried  with  him.  The  painting  is  entirely  in  gray  tone,  and  we 
cannot  too  much  compliment  M.  Devachez,  the  engraver,  for  the  beautiful  rendering  he 
has  made  of  the  color. 

J.  Van  Eycken  was  born  at  Brussels  in  18 10.  After  studying  some  time  under 
M.  Navez,  pupil  of  David  and  a  painter  of  high  reputation,  he  entered  the  Academy  of 
Brussels,  and  in  1835  carried  off  the  first  prize  in  painting.  He  attained  a  high  repu- 
tation in  religious  subjects,  or  episodes  of  life  treated  allegorically;  his  "  Charity,"  which 
we  engrave,  is  of  this  latter  class.  Van  Eycken  died  in  December  1853,  under  some- 
what melancholy  circumstances.     While  painting  a  large   composition  in  the  transept  of 

4 

the  church  in  the  rue  Laute,  called  "  La  chapelle,"  he  had  the  misfortune  to  fall  from 
the  scaffolding.  Although  not  much  injured  it  had  a  bad  effect  on  his  fragile  health, 
occasioned  by  the  poignant  grief  felt  at  the  premature  death  of  his  wife,  to  whom  he 
was  so  tenderly  attached,  that  he  never  ceased  to  mourn  her  up  to  the  period  of  his 
own  decease,  which  occurred  at  his  residence,  place  de  la  Chancellerie,  Brussels. 

William  Geefs  was  born  at  Antwerp  in  1806,  and  studied  in  the  School  of  Art  in 
that  city.  His  "  Lion  in  Love,"  which  we  engrave,  is  by  Mr.  Baker.  It  is  difficult  to  tell 
whence  he  drew  his  inspiration  ;  but,  whether  it  is  a  fable  or  a  creation  of  his  own,  it 
is  a  most  beautiful  composition,  treated  with  remarkable  power  and  elegance,  and  with 
a  well  defined  expression  ;  altogether  it  is  a  work  of  high  art,  the  production  of  a  man 
of  genius. 

E.  Verboeckhoven  is  a  Belgian  artist  whose  works  are  well  and  favorably  known 
in  this  country.  He  was  born  at  Warneton  in  1  799,  and  we  may,  therefore,  now  class  him 
as  venerable.  This  artist  has  been  a  follower  of  the  style  of  Paul  Potter:  his  studio  is 
a  miniature  museum  of  natural  history,  it  is  filled  with  innumerable  sketches  and  plaster 
models  executed  by  himself.  He  has  been  styled  the  master  of  "  bucolics."  His  pictures, 
especially  the  smaller  ones — and  "  Passing  the  Brook"  is  a  small  picture — are  very 
carefully  finished,  the  form  and  anatomical  structure  of  the  respective  animals  are 
most  accurate  in  drawing,  while  his  compositions  often  exhibit  poetic  and  dramatic 
conception. 

J.  Dyckmans,  chevalier  of  the  Order  of  Leopold,  holds  a  prominent  position  in  the 
Belgian  school  of  painting ;  he  is  a  native  of  Antwerp,  and  entered  the  studio  of  Baron 
Wappers,  who  at  one  time  was  director  of  the  Academy  of  Fine  Art  in  that  city.  The 
picture,  "The  Blind  Beggar,"  of  which  we  have  an  engraving  on  steel  by  M.  Desvachez, 
has  a  curious  history.  A  notorious  English  railway  defaulter,  named  Redpath,  had 
gathered  a  fair  collection  of  works  of  art,  when  the  government  seized  and  auctioned 
his  effects,  among  which  was  the  "  Blind  Beggar ;"  a  lady  bought  it  for  nearly  five 
thousand  dollars,  and    at    her  death    she    bequeathed    it    to    the  National    Gallery.     The 


258  MASTERPIECES    OE  EUROPEAN   ART. 


picture  is  painted  on  wood,  in  a  tone  of  color  exceedingly  low,  but  the  whole  is  worked 
to  an  extreme  of  finish ;  the  countenance  of  the  girl  is  very  sweet,  but  void  of  all  the 
cheerfulness  of  youth ;  it  is  grave,  thoughtful,  but  not  distressed.  The  combined 
attitude   of   the  pair   is   as   touching   as    the    circumstances    of   their    case    are    sad    and 

appalling. 

"Mr.  William  Van  de  Velde.  senior,  late  painter  of  sea  fights  to  their  majesties 
King  Charles  II.  and  King  James,"  as  his  tombstone  in  St.  James'  Church,  London,  sets  forth, 
was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the  distinguished  Dutch  admiral,  De  Ruyter;  and  it  is 
related  that,  on  one  occasion,  the  artist  being  desirous  of  studying  the  effect  of  a  cannon 
fired  from  a  ship,  begged  his  friend  to  afford  him  such  an  opportunity  from  one  then 
under  the  command  of  De  Ruyter.  It  is  this  scene  which  E.  Le  Poittevin  has  made 
the  subject  of  his  picture,  and  of  which  we  have  a  most  excellent  transcript  by  Mr.  Sharpe. 
M.  Le  Poittevin  is  a  Belgian  artist  of  good  reputation,  who  had  for  a  fellow-student  the 
rising  Josef  Israels. 

•'  All  that  pass  by  clap  their  hands  at  thee ;  they  kiss  and  wag  their  head  at  the 
daughter  of  Jerusalem."  It  is  this  which  supplied  M.  J.  F.  Portaels  with  the  subject  of 
his  picture,  "The  Daughter  of  Zion,"  of  which  we  have  an  engraving  by  Mr.  Greatbach. 
M.  Portaels  is  a  Belgian  painter  of  considerable  repute;  he  gathers  his  subjects  principally 
from  countries  of  the  East  in  which  he  has  been  a  frequent  traveler.  Visitors  to  the 
Belgian  Department  of  Fine  Art,  of  the  Philadelphia  Exhibition,  may  rememember  a 
"  Rebecca"  sent  by  Portaels  to  that  display. 

A  young  Greek  boy,  who  may  grow  up  to  be  a  Leonidas,  a  Miltiades,  a  Pausanius, 
or  it  may  be  a  Pindar  or  a  Thucydides,  has  been  guilty  of  some  misconduct,  and  the 
lady  calls  the  delinquent  to  her  side  to  read  him  a  lecture ;  such  is  the  motif  of  J. 
Coomans'  picture,  "The  Reproof,"  of  which  we  have  an  engraving  in  these  pages.  Yet 
we  may  suppose  the  "  reproof"  is  given  with  all  gentleness,  the  smile  on  her  face  almost 
contradicting  her  words,  while  the  little  fellow  looks  upwards  to  his  mother  as  if  half 
ashamed  of  himself,  yet  assured  of  pardon.  Coomans  was  born  at  Brussels  in  1816, 
and  studied  under  De  Keyser  and  Wappers.  He  has  made  Greek  and  Roman  life 
his  studies,  and  all  his  works  which  we  have  seen  are  of  this  character. 

Kmii.k  Wauters  is  one  of  the  younger  masters  of  the  school  of  Belgian  art.  He 
is  a  pupil  of  Portaels  and  has  won  distinction  at  several  Belgic  Exhibitions,  as  well  as 
at  the  French  Salon.  The  example  of  his  work  which  we  engrave  is  "The  Insanity 
of  Hugo  Van  der  <;<><-s."  The  story  is  told  that  Van  der  Goes,  who  was  born  in  Bruges 
about  1405,  and  had  studied  under  Van  Eyck,  had  been  crossed  in  love,  and  partially 
losing  his  reason,  he  retired  to  a  monastery  of  the  Augustin  order,  near  Brussels,  and 
in  lucid  intervals  decorated  its   cloisters.     In  return  for  his  work,  the    monks,  by  means 


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THE   BELGIC   AND    OTHER    SCHOOLS. 


259 


of  music,  recovered  him  his  reason ;  and  it  is  this  scene  which  M.  Moniez  has  so  well 
interpreted  from  the  picture. 

Her  majesty,  of  England,  if  she  selects  the  pictures  for  her  gallery  at  Osborne,  is 
not  devoid  of  humor.  The  work  of  the  living  Belgian  artist,  C.  Tschaggeney,  the  "Cow 
Doctor,"  has  humor  and  pathos.  The  original  title  of  the  picture  we  believe  was 
"  l'Emperique,"  and  certainly,  none  can  doubt,  looking  at  the  principal  personage  in  the 
composition,  his  empirical  character.  He  is  a  peripatetic  quack,  vending  medicines  to 
heal  all  disorders  whether  of  man  or  beast.  The  aged  couple,  standing  in  front  of  their 
cottage,  are  seeking  his  advice  touching  the  malady  of,  perhaps,  their  only  cow,  whose 
unhealthy  condition  is  most  forcibly  expressed  by  her  drooping  head  and  sickly,  half- 
closed  eye ;  the  faces  of  her  owners  are  scarcely  less  pitiable,  for  it  is  just  possible  that 
destitution  is  involved  in  the  death  of  the  animal.  What  a  dramatic  figure  is  the  doctor! 
he  is  undoubtedly  master  of  the  case :  with  a  bland  smile  he  assures  the  old  people 
that  under  his  judicious  treatment  the  patient  will  recover,  a  fact  about  which,  perhaps, 
the  dog  is  incredulous.  The  whole  story  is  well  told,  in  true  Hogarthian  style ;  and 
the  picture  is  most  carefully  painted. 

Albert  Thorwaldsen,  the  great  Danish  sculptor,  was  the  son  of  a  carver  on  wood. 
He  was  born  in  1 771,  and  was  gratuitously  educated  at  the  Copenhagen  Academy  of  Arts. 
He  then  went  to  Rome,  and  when  about  to  leave  that  city  for  his  native  one,  his  clay 
model  of  "Jason"  was  seen  by  a  princely  patron  of  art,  who  immediately  ordered  it  in 
marble  at  a  price  which  determined  Thorwaldsen  to  make  his  home  in  Rome.  "Jason," 
when  completed,  was  exhibited,  and  the  artist's  fortune  was  virtually  made.  Among  his 
most  celebrated  works  are  the  "Triumph  of  Alexander,"  "Night,"  "Day,"  and  "Christ 
and  the  Twelve  Apostles."  The  "  Basket  of  Loves,"  engraved  for  this  book,  is  one 
of  those  poetical  compositions  in  which  Thorwaldsen  occasionally  indulged.  Into  this 
picturesque  subject  the  sculptor  has  thrown  all  his  energies.  Thorwaldsen  died  at  the 
age  of  seventy-three,  "  he  was  mean  and  money-loving,  fond  of  drink  and  pet  dogs,  very 
licentious  and  faithless,  and  basely  jealous  of  rivals  in  his  art." 

It  is  said  that  the  mantle  of  Thorwaldsen  fell  upon  his  fellow-countryman  and 
pupil,  Professor  Jerichau,  whose  "Leopard  Hunter"  we  offer  an  engraving  of  by  Mr. 
Artlett.  The  action  of  this  sculpture  is  seen  at  a  glance :  the  hunter  has  invaded  the 
lair  and  carried  off  a  cub,  the  enraged  mother  scents  the  spoiler,  and,  following,  falls 
upon  the  despoiler:  it  is  now  a  struggle  for  life  between  the  combatants;  she  aims  to 
seize  his  throat,  whilst  he,  with  keen  eye,  uplifts  his  javelin  to  thrust  it  down  his 
opponent's  throat.  The  subject  is  a  favorite  one  everywhere,  and  is  well  known  by 
the  small  copies  in  clay,  which  are  to  be  found  in  all  places  where  ceramic  wares 
are  sold. 


26o  MASTERPIECES    OF   FAJROPEAN   ART. 


Cri  :  i    i  i.  whose  "Judith  with  the  Head  of  Holofernes"  is  engraved  for  this 

work,  is  an  Italian  artist,  born  at  Florence  in  1577.  He  executed  several  reputable 
works  for  the  churches  and  convents  of  Florence,  and  for  the  Palace  of  the  Medici. 
The  head  of  Holofernes,  in  the  picture  we  engrave,  is  the  head  of  the  artist  hinwll  : 
the  Judith  is  a  j>ortrait  of  his  mistress,  and  the  attendant  is  that  of  her  mother.  Allori 
lived  a  vicious  life,  and  died  at  the  comparatively  early  age  of   forty-four. 

The  name  of  Schadow  is  one  most  distinguished  in  the  art  annals  of  modern 
Germany.  Rudolph  Schadow  was  born  at  Rome  in  1766,  but,  in  1788,  his  family  returned 
to  Berlin,  where  he  pursued  his  studies  till  1810,  when  he  went  back  to  Rome,  where 
he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1822.  His  three  principal  works  are  in  the  Royal 
Collection  at  Berlin:  •  'Tying  the  Sandal."  a  "  Cupidon,"  and  "The  Filatrice,"  the  latter 
of  which  is  engraved  for  our  work. 

ScHWANTHALBR  was  born  in  Munich  in  1802,  and  when  he  died,  in  184S,  the,  modern 
German  school  of  sculpture  .  lost  one  of  its  most  distinguished  artists,  and  one  who 
had  perhaps  done  more  than  any  other  sculptor  to  ornament  his  country  with  fine 
examples  of  his  art.  He  was  an  indefatigable  worker;  from  1832  to  1844  he  executed 
one  hundred  and  twenty-one  statues,  including  the  "  Bavaria,"  of  which  an  engraving 
graces  our  pages.  The  statue  is  fifty-two  feet  high.  It  is  said  that  Schwanthaler's 
mother  was  advised  to  take  her  son  from  the  Art  Academy  because  he  would  never  be 
an  artist ;  but  it  so  happened  that  one  of  the  equerries  of  King  Maximilian  of  Bavaria, 
observing  the  young  artist  modeling  the  forms  and  attitudes  of  horses,  recommended 
him  to  his  Majesty,  who  engaged  him  to  model  designs  for  a  dinner  service,  to  be 
executed  in  silver,  which  service  was  to  be  ornamented  with  bassi-re/icz-i,  taken  from 
Greek  mythology.  In  this  way  originated  the  first  work  of  Schwanthaler,  the  "  Kntrance 
of  the  Younger  Deities  to  Olympus." 

FkANZ •  Xavikk  Wimikiiai.tkk,  portrait  painter,  was  born  at  Baden  in  1806.  He 
studied  his  art  first  at  Munich  and  afterwards  at  Rome,  where  he  lived  for  some  years. 
In  1834  he  settled  at  Paris,  but  made  frequent  journeys  into  ( iermany.  Kngland, 
Begium,  &c  He  went  to  London  in  1842,  was  well  received  at  Court,  and  painted,  in 
1848,  a  group  of  "The  Queen,  the  Prince  Consort,  and  their  Children.  He  was  em- 
ployed to  paint  many  other  portraits  of  the  royal  family;  and  his  picture,  "  Florinda." 
exhibited  in  1853,  was  bought  for  the  Royal  Collection.  Among  the  works  of 
Wintcrhalter  are  portraits  of  "Louis  Philippe  and  his  Queen;"  "Napoleon  III.,  the 
Km;  m\(\    the  Prince    Imperial;"    the  "Grand    Duchess  Helena  of   Russia,"  and   the 

"l.ady  Constance."  of  which  we  have  an  engraving  by  T.  Vernon.  He  received  the 
Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  in  1839,  and  was  promoted  officer  in  1857.  He  died, 
July  8th.  1873. 


J    COOMANS    PINX* 


J    DEMANNEZ.  SCULP* 


THE    REPROOF. 


THE   BELGIC   AND    OTHER    SCHOOLS.  261 


We  have  adorned  our  pages  with  two  examples  of  the  work  of  the  great  German 
sculptor,  E.  F.  A.  Reitschel,  who  died  in  i86r!  They  are  "Protecting  Angels,"  and 
"  Love  the  Ruler,"  both  bas-reliefs,  in  which  class  of  work  Herr  Reitschel  excelled.  The 
"Protecting  Angels"  is  a  lovely  group  of  four  figures, — a  mother  and  her  three  children, — 
one  of  whom  she  bears  in  her  arms ;  and  we  know  of  no  better  example  of  the  poetry 
of  the  sculptor's  art  than  "  Love  the  Ruler."  The  Hall  of  the  University  of  Leipsig 
contains  some  of  M.  Reitschel's  best  works,  the  "  Genius  of  Truth,"  and  the  series  of 
twelve  compositions,  in  bas-relief,  representing  the  "  Progress  of  Human  Civilization,  and 
Moral  and  Mental  Culture,"  which  some  of  our  readers  no  doubt  remember. 

"  Psyche,"  which  we  engrave  after  W.  Von  Hoyer's  statue,  has  long  been,  and  we 
suppose  will  continue  to  be  a  kind  of  "  stock"  subject  with  young  sculptors.  Von  Hoyer, 
while  studying  in  Rome,  made  his  first  model  of  this,  and  afterwards  executed  it  in 
marble  for  Queen  Victoria,  in  whose  collection  the  statue  is.  The  figure  is  elegant  and 
easy  in  its  pose;  but  the  drapery,  considering  the  mission  whereon  Psyche  was  sent,  is 
too  cumbrous,  but  it  has  enabled  the  sculptor  to  arrange  the  folds  with  much  taste. 

A.  Reidel  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Herr  Wagner's  Theatre — Baireuth ;  he  was  born 
about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  entered  the  school  of  Munich.  In  his 
early  years,  Reidel  attained  considerable  celebrity  by  the  boldness  of  his  designs  and 
the  spirit  of  his  compositions.  About  forty  years  ago  he  went  to  Rome  and  altered 
his  style  of  painting  from  historical  to  genre ;  to  the  latter  class  belongs,  "  The  Beauty 
of  Albano,"  engraved  by  Lumb  Stocks.  He  rose  into  public  favor  in  Rome,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  until  his  death. 

The  "  Schiller,"  by  R.  Begas,  is  the  outcome  of  an  invitation  to  sculptors,  some  few 
years  ago,  to  submit  designs  for  a  monument  to  be  erected  in  Berlin  in  honor  of 
.Schiller.  The  competition  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  model  submitted  by  Reinhold 
Begas,  who  already  enjoyed  a  good  reputation  in  Germany.  This  statue  of  the  great 
dramatist  and  philosopher  of  Germany  represents  him  in  the  prime  of  life,  the  lineaments 
of  the  face  are  small  and  regular,  the  expression  is  that  of  thought,  amounting  very 
nearly  to  severity.  Four  figures  at  the  angles  of  the  pedestal  represent  respectively, 
Lyric  Poetry,  Dramatic  Poetry,  History,  and  Philosophy.  Among  the  numerous  works 
of  art  which  adorn  the  city  of  Berlin,  this  is  one  of  the  most  imposing. 

Bingen  is  the  birth-place  of  P.  Foltz,  but  as  an  artist  he  belongs  to  Munich,  in 
which  city  he  has  long  been  resident,  and  of  whose  art  school  he  is  a  distinguished 
ornament.  Count  Raczynski,  in  his  "  History  of  German  Art,"  speaks  highly  of  Foltz 
as  an  historical  as  well  as  a  genre  painter,  and  of  the  latter  kind  is  "  The  Jager's  Wife," 
of  which  we  have  an  engraving.  In  this  picture  the  artist,  no  doubt,  has  given  to  the 
peasant  of  the  Tyrol   a   poetical   sentiment,  that   is   ideal   rather   than   actual,  for  it  has 


362  MASTERPIECES    OF  EUROPEAN   ART. 


been  truly  said  that,  "  the  real  life  of  the  Tyrolesian  differs  widely  from  the  beau-ideal 
of  poetry  and  romance." 

I  HAtfNEL  was  a  pupil  of  Schwanthaler's,  and  assisted  that  artist  in  several  of  his 
large  and  notable  commissions.  In  the  theatre  at  Dresden,  Hahnel  was  employed  by 
Herr  Semper  to  do  some  of  the  friezes  for  the  exterior  and  four  statues  for  the  interior;  the 
subjects  of  the  latter  are  "Euripides,"  "Aristophanes,"  "Shakespeare,"  and  "  Moliere,"  and 
these  were  highly  commended.  He  next  executed  the  "  Medicine,"  which  we  have  engraved; 
a  cast  of  it  stands  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  London,  and  the  original  is  in  Dresden. 
The  figure  is  a  fine  allegorical  one;  "Medicine"  is  enthroned  and  crowned  with  laurel, 
in  her  right  hand  she  holds  the  cup  from  which  a  serpent  is  feeding — the  Greek  attribute 
of  health;  in  the  right  hand  is  a  scroll  on  which  is  written  the  name  of  the  celebrated 
Greek  physician,  Hippocrates.  There  is  remarkable  dignity,  united  with  simplicity,  in  this 
conception. 

Andke  and  Oswald  Achenbach  for  many  years  have  held  high  positions  in  the 
I  )usse!dorf  School  as  landscape  painters.  Andre  Achenbach  is  one  of  the  chief  sup- 
porters of  the  reputation  of  this  school — in  landscape,  and  his  younger  brother,  Oswald, 
follows  fast  in  his  footsteps.  The  tendency  of  the  Dusseldorf  School  is  towards 
naturalism  rather  than  idealism ;  their  works  are  carefully  studied,  and  as  carefully 
painted.  The  "  Monastery,"  by  Oswald,  of  which  we  have  an  engraving,  affords  an 
example  of  these  remarks ;  as  a  composition  it  is  very  skillfully  put  together,  and  the 
scene,  altogether,  seems  a  veritable  copy  from  nature. 


Times  are  indeed  changed  since  Charles  V.  picked  up  the  brush  (see  page  109) 
that  had  accidentally  dropped  from  Titian's  hand;  since  Philip  used  to  let  himself  in, 
at  all  hours,  with  a  private  key,  to  the  studio  of  Velasquez.  Then,  kings,  and  the 
noblest  personages,  and  the  wealthy  holders  of  church  property  were  the  sole  patrons 
of  the  artist.  Since  then,  even  thrones  have  become  visible  types  of  mutability;  and 
the  exchange  of  royal  estates  for  limited  civil  lists  often  leaves  the  sovereign  without 
the  power  to  do  what  he  would  for  art.  The  noblest  personages  of  a  later  day  are 
not  always  the  wealthiest;  the  splendid  endowments  of  mediaeval  churches  have  been 
diverted  to  other  less  exclusive  objects;  and  thus  the  artist  has  to  look  elsewhere  for 
his  encouragement,  his  means  of  livelihood,  and  his  fame.  The  sovereign  people  is 
now  the  great  patron  of  art.  National  galleries  and  museums  possess  its  choicest 
examples ;  private  persons  of  easy  fortune  furnish  their  houses  with  pictures  and 
engravings  as  a  matter  of  course.  In  humbler  homes,  chromo-lithographs,  copied 
from    celebrated    pictures,  suggest   at   least    the    ideas  of  the   master,  when   they  do  not 


J.  DYCKMANS.  P1NX? 


D.  DESVACHEZ     SCULPT 


'HE    BLOTB    BEGGAM 


FROM   THE   PICTURE   IN   THE    NATIONAL  G-ALLERY. 


CONCLUSION.  263 


reflect  it  with  power  of  another  sort,  as  they  not  unfrequently  do.  Engravers,  etchers 
and  photographers  are  busy  popularizing  works  which,  in  another  age,  could  have  been 
known  only  to  a  few  who  either  lived  in  the  neighborhood  or  had  undertaken  a  distant 
journey,  perhaps,  in  order  to  visit  and  admire  them. 

The  question  naturally  arises,  what  effect  is  produced  by  so  radical  a  change  on 
the  quality  of  art,  and  on  the  discriminating  taste  of  the  people  ?  It  is  a  very  impor- 
tant one,  and  not  very  easy  to  answer  off-hand.  Nothing,  indeed,  can  be  plainer  than 
that  some  kinds  of  art  have,  in  consequence  of  the  change,  ceased  to  be  inquired  for, 
and  therefore  ceased  to  be  supplied.  Thus,  for  example,  high  religious  art  has  simply 
disappeared,  as  utterly  as  the  Dodo  or  the  lost  Pleiad.  The  remark  applies  to  no  one 
country  in  particular:  it  is  universal.  There  is  no  use  in  concealing  the  fact,  whatever 
may  be  its  proximate  cause.  In  Italy  and  Spain,  high  religious  art  is  dead,  quite  as 
much  as  in  France,  which  never  possessed  much  of  it,  or  in  its  best  form.  There  are 
persons  who  believe  in  the  Diisseldorf  and  Munich  revival  of  "Christian  Art"  within 
the  last  half-century,  just  as  there  are  people  who  enjoy  the  crudities  of  recent  glass- 
staining,  which,  they  think,  has  called  back  to  life  the  many-colored  glories  of  Bourges 
or  of  Chartres  Cathedral. 

As  the  principal  patron  of  art  is  now  the  sovereign  people,  it  follows,  from  their 
many-headed  character,  that  portraiture  is  an  engrossing  branch  of  popular  art.  Here, 
at  least  as  to  quantity,  the  demand  is  abundantly  supplied.  As  to  quality,  that  is  a 
different  matter.  A  keen  observer  of  contemporary  life  remarks :  "  It  is  trade,  not  art ; 
the  aim  is  to  produce  money,  not  a  painting.  The  terrible  rule  which  infects  all 
production,  the  rule  of  small  profits  and  quick  returns,  is  the  death-blow  of  art.  That 
is  not  the  way  great  things  are  done.  It  is  not  the  way  our  fathers  did  even  little 
things."  The  judgment  is  severe ;  but,  if  strictly  limited  to  the  domain  of  art,  we 
think  it  neither  too  severe  nor  yet  inconsistent  with  a  firm  belief  in  the  general  progress 
of  human  affairs  towards  improvement. 

We  might  extend  our  remarks  into  other  departments  of  Art,  as,  for  example,  into 
landscape  and  genre.  It  will  suffice,  however,  to  say  that  nothing  appears  more  directly 
calculated  to  raise  the  character  of  modern  painting,  in  every  department,  than  the 
promotion  of  sound  art-education  among  the  masses  of  the  people.  To  know  a  good 
picture  from  an  indifferent  one  is  not  a  natural  gift,  nor,  like  one  of  the  senses,  the 
inheritance  of  all  persons  alike.  It  must  be  acquired  and  cultivated  by  studying  good 
pictures.  To  this  end  museums  of  art-works,  our  academies  and  galleries  of  art,  directly 
point.  The  same  end,  also,  is  powerfully  served  by  the  liberality  of  art-collectors,  who 
permit  the  public  to  inspect  their  treasures  of  art.  The  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts    is    open    for   several    hours    daily,   Sundays    included.     This    last   privilege,  we   can 


-"-4 


MASTERPIECES   OF  EUROPE  AX   ART. 


<»nally  testify,  is  largely  taken  advantage  of  by  a  grateful  public.  Education  of  the 
public  eye  and  taste  will  soon  re-act  on  the  painters.  Appreciation  stimulates  to  higher 
efforts;  intelligent  and  discriminating  criticism  exerts  a  wholesome  and  corrective  influence 
on  the  eccentricities  of  genius.  And  while  tl\e  discriminating  critic  exercises  his  function 
of  "discerning  the  glorious  from  the  base,"  there  is  no  one  more  ready  than  he  to 
uncover  and  worship  the  moment  he  recognizes  the  presence  of  one  of  the  mighty 
masters  of  the  pencil,  who  have  received,  how  or  whence  no  one  can  tell  or  imagine, 
the  rare  power  of  representing  what  they  see,  and  much  more  than  they  see.  Like 
poetry  or  music,  in  its  highest  form,  art  is  "a  power  that  comes  and  goes  like  a  dream;" 
it  is  a  hint  of  the  eternal  beauty  that  haunts  us  all  through  life,  and  insensibly  draws 
us  towards  itself.  Study  and  practice  no  doubt  develop  the  manual  dexterity,  the 
penetrating  observation  necessary  to  the  artist;  but  the  original  power  of  reproducing 
what  is  seen  or  imagined  in  the  attractive  forms  of  pure  art  is  inborn  and  incom- 
municable. If  a  great  poet  is  said  to  be  a  precious  gift  of  nature  to  any  nation,  no 
less  can  be  asserted  of  a  great  painter.  Happy  the  nation  that  can  appreciate  his 
value  when  he  comes ! 


Lrr 


'    1«    Kf.l.    »»    MM  KM  C  A-     •SlttTII*    •    XMIDA».  fill!    M.»irHI» 


ENGRAVINGS  ON    WOOD  PRINTED  WITH    THE  TEXT. 


^OfTRAITS 

PAGE. 

Angelo,  Michael 20 

Caravaggio 76 

Cellini,  Benvenuto 44 

David,  F 207 

Da  Vinci,  Leonardo 17 

De  Ribera,  Josef 185 

Fromentin,  E 207 

Goya 199 


OF     ARTISTS. 

PAGE 

Hassencleaver,  J.  P 117 

Maratti,  Carlo      .     .• 77 

Raphael 20 

Tintoretto 60 

Tintoretto's  Daughter 60 

Titian 45 

Velasquez 193 

Veronese,  P 49 


VIEWS    OF    ART    CENTRES. 


Bologna 25 

Florence 4 

Gallery  of  the  Uffizi 12 

Gate  of  the  Baptistry 9 

The  Tribune  of  the  Uffizi 13 

Hermitage,  St.  Petersburg 215 

Mantua 8 

Milan 24 


Naples 72 

Pisa 5 

Rome 32 

Schwerin  Castle 136 

Turin 65 

Venice 57 

The  Ducal  Palace 64 


PAINTINGS    AND     SCULPTURE. 

Laocoon xii 

Venus  de  Medici xiii 

Angelo,  M The  Fates     ....          28 

Balding,  Hans The  Kiss  of  Death 89 

Becker,  Carl Charles  V.  and  Titian 108 

Berghem,  N.     .        .     .* Milking  Time 169 

Bitterlich,  E The  Graces 140 

Bonnat,  L The  Sisters 237 

Bouguereau  W The  Little  Marauders 229 

Breton,  Jules Eve  of  St.  Johns  Day 233 

Burgkmair,  J Burgkmair  and  his  Wife 92 

Cabanel,  A The  Annunciation 225 

Cano,  Alonso St.  John 187 

Caravaggio Christ  Crowned  with  Thorns 73 

Cellini,  B Perseus 41 

Cornelius,  P The  Destruction  of  Troy 104 

Correggio Chamber  of  St.  Paul 52 

Head  of  Christ 53 

Leda  and  the  Swan 56 

David,  F.     . '  .    *    .  Death  of  Socrates 209 

Da  Vinci,  L The  Last  Supper 21 

De  la  Charlerie,  H Cupid  and  Psyche     , 1 

De  la  Roche,  P Fame  ....  * 217 

Del  Sarto,  Andrea 754*  Madonna  of  the  Harpies 29 

De  Lairesse,  G Cleopatra's  Feast 144 

De  Moor,  K The  Mandoline 176 

De  Ribalta,  F St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke 181 

265 


Fortuny.  M The  Circassian ^^^ "^ 

Frrminct.  M ST.  John afe    •    flB *<9 


..(.(.  ENGRAVINGS    OX    WOOD. 

Dc  Zurbaran.  F Adoration  of  the  Magi 191 

The  Monk  tn  Prayer 189 

Dc»porte*.  F.            The  Printers 215 

Dietrich.  G  W.  E The  Rat- Catcher 101 

Dorr,  G Alexander  Weeping  over  Darius 131 

I  hirer.  Albert Samson  Killing  the  Uon 88 

Fruerbath.  A Iphigtnin  at  AnHs 137 

Fontana,  R The  Evocation  of  Sank 81 

'•me,  J.  L.                                                       •  Pegging  Monk  at  the  Door  of^ntosqut^W 221 

Goltxhti Qtis  Evadeit 96 

//  the  Balcony 201 

« trctius The  State,  it  is  I 1 29 

( luido .     .               Inrora 69 

Fortune 68 

Hassencleaver.  J.  I* The  Wine  Tasters                         116 

Herrmann-Leon 4  Pause  in  the  Argument 235 

Holbein The  Meier  Madonna 93 

Malcart.  Hans Faust  ami  Marguerite 133 

Meissonier,  J.  1 The  Flute-Player 223 

Metro,  <; The  Gallant 152 

Micris.  F Teasing  the  Pet 156 

Minis,  ("» The  Ancient  Suitor 157 

Montevcrdc Dr.  Jenner  Inoculating  his  Son 83 

Morale*,  I The  Circumcision 179 

Mailer.  C The  Last  Sufiper 124 

Overbcck,  F The  Entombment 105 

Pareja.  Juan Christ  and  St.  Mat/hew 197 

Pasini,  L Fra  Filippo 80 

I'iloty,  C The  Dauphin 113 

Raphael Deliverance  of  St.  Peter 37 

Madonna  of  the  Chair 33 

••         The  Temptation 36 

Regnault,  H General  Prim 227 

Rembrandt The  Good  Samaritan 149 

The  Night  Watch 153 

Romano,  G Venus  and  Vulcan 40 

Rnttcnhamcr,  J Death  of  Adonis 97 

RuvMl.de.  J The  Waterfall 165 

S.mdrart.  J Zeuxis  Painting  Helen  of  Croton loo 

Scheffer,  Ary Christus  Consolator .' 211 

Selinorr.  J Death  of  Sicgfrieii 107 

Joseph  Before  Pharaoh 121 

Srttegast,  J The  Ascension 125 

Stammel,  I- Selling  the  Jiooty 120 

Steen,  Jean The  Dancing  Dog 161 

Stcinle.  J    I". The  Raising  of  Jarius'  Daughter 1 28 

Steven,  Herr Rubens  ami  his  Master 112 

Tcrburj;,  (". The  Music  Issson 160 

Thcotoroptili  1  F.I  Greco) F.I  Greco's  Daughter 183 

Tintoretto Th'  Ma  triage  at  Cana 61 

Titian The  Crown  of  Thorns 48 

Van  Dyke,  P The  Departure  of  If  agar MS 

V.in  del  Veer Minmlight '48 

Vandevelde.  W The  Coming  Storm     ......' 148 

Vander  WertT.  A Samson  and  Delilah 17* 

Van  Heem.  I) Fruit 148 

Van  MwvMini Fruit         .' 173 

Van  Ixyde.  I. The  Dentist '41 

Van  Oatad            Ian  Ostade  in  his  Studio 164 

quel          The  Water-Seller  of  Seville <9S 

Wagn-i     \        Every  Man  to  his  Trade M- 


INDEX. 


Abale,  Niccolo. 
Achenbach,  A.    . 
Achenbach,  O. 
Agesender. 
Albani,  Francesco. 
Albertinelli,  M.   . 
Aldegrever,  Heinrich 
Allegri,  Lorenzo. 
Allimo,  Niccolo. 
Allori,  C.     . 
Alma-Tadema,  L. 
Altdorfer,  A. 
Amberger,  C. 
Angelico,  Fra.    . 
Angelo,  M.     . 
Anker,  Albert.     . 
Apelles.  . 
Apollodorus. 
Aretino,  S. 
Athenodorus. 
Backhuysen,  L. 
Badile,  A.    . 
Bartolomeo,  Fra. 
Bartolozzi.  . 
Barzaghi. 
Bassano. 
Becker,  Carl. 
Begas,  R.    . 
Beham,  Bartle. 
Beham,  H.  Sebald 
Bellange,  J.  L. 
Belley,  Leon. 
Bellini,  Gentile. 
Bellini.  Giovanni. 
Bellini,  Jacopo. 
Bendemann,  E.  . 
Beni-Hassan. 
Berghem,  Nicholas 
Berne- Bellecour. 
Bida,  Alexander. 
Bink,  Jacob.    . 
Bisschop.     . 
Bitterlich,  E.  . 
Bonheur,  F.  A. 
Bonheur,  Rosa. 
Bonnat,  L.  . 
Bonsignori,  F. 
Bordone,  Paris. 
Both,  Jan. 
Botticelli.    . 
Bouguereau.  W. 
Brauwcr,  Adrian 
Breton,  Jules. 
Breughels.  The. 
Brion,  Gustave. 


PACiE. 

■       63 

134, 262 

.     262 

xii 

•  67 
22 

•  99 
57 
13 

260 

•  175 

99 

•  103 
8,  118 

9.  23,  5° 
255 
xiv 
xiv 
6 
xii 
172 

54 
22 

78 
82 
61 

139 
261 

99 

99 

241 

250 

44 
45.99 

44 
'38 
x 
172 
252- 
252 

99 
175 
140 
248 
247 
251 

S3 

51 
172 

II 

254 
161 

245 
152 
248 


Brosamer,  Hans. 
Browne,  Henriette. 
Bran,  C.  Le. 
Bruvn,  Bartolomiius. 
Cabanel,  A.    . 
Calvert,  Denis.    . 
Campotosta.    . 
Canaletto.    . 
Cano,  Alonzo. 
Canova,  Antonio. 
Carracci,  Agostino. 
Carracci,  Annibale. 
Carracci,  L.     . 
Caracciolo,  G 
Caravaggio.     . 
Caroto,  F.   . 
Carrier-Belleuse. 
Cellini,  B.    . 
Christofani,  B. 
Cimabue,  G. 
Cimon.     . 

Claude  (of  Lorraine). 
Cleanthes. 
Cleomenes. 
Cleophantus.    . 
Cloet,  Francis.     . 
Cloet,  Jean.     . 
Coello,  A.  S. 
Coejlo,  Claudio. 
Coomans,  J. 
Coreggio. 

Corenzio,  Belisario. 
Cornelius,  Peter,  Von 
Corot,  J.  B. 
Courbet,  Gustave.  . 
Cousin,  Jean. 
Coxcien,  Michael.   . 
Cranach,  Lucas. 
Crayer,  Caspard  De. 
Credi,  L.  De. 
Cristus,  Peter. 
Cuyp,  Albert. 
Datus.     . 
Daubigny,  C.  F. 
David,  J.  L.    . 
De  la  Croix,  F.  V.  E. 
De  la  Roche,  P.      . 
Desportes.  F. 
Dibutades.     . 
Dietrich,  C.  W.  E. 
Dionysius. 
Dolci,  Carlo. 
Domenichino. 
Donate 
Donnauer,  Hans.    . 


"3 


no, 


PACE. 

99 
249 
210 

92 

247 
67 
82 
74 

185 
75 
63 

65.73 
62 

73 

71 

53 

255 

42 

4 

3 

xiii 

214 

xiii 

xiii 

xiii 

207 

206 

180 

198 

258 

55 

73 

114,  122 

242 

253 
206 

151 
103 

159 

20 

146 

170 

6 

249 
220 

239 

236 

218 

ix 

no 

xiv 

69 

66 

43 
107 


Dore,  G.      . 

Douw,  Gerard. 

Dupre,  Jules. 

Diirer,  Albrecht. 

Dyckmans,  J. 

Engelbrechtsen,  C. 

Eumarus.    . 

Fabriano,  Gentile  De 

Feltri,  Morto  Da. 

Fiore,  Jacobello  Del. 

Fireneze,  Andre  Da. 

Flameng,  L.    . 

Fleury.  J.  N.  R 

Foltz,  P. 

Fontana,  G 

Fontana,  R.    . 

Fortuny,  M. 

Fouquet,  J. 

Francesca,  P.  Delia 

I'rancia. 

Freminet,  M. 

Frere,  C.  T.    . 

Frere,  P.  E. 

Fromentin,  E. 

Gaddi,  Gaddo. 

Gaddi,  Taddeo. 

Gallait,  L.   . 

Geefs,  Wm.     . 

Gempt,  Te. 
Gerard,  F.       . 
Gericault.  T. 
Gerome,  J.  L. 
Ghiberti,  L. 
Ghirlandjo. 
Giambono. 
Gigoux,  F.  J. 
Giolfino. 
Giorgione. 
Giotto. 

Giotto,  Agnoto. 
Girodet. 
Gleyre,  C. 
Goltzius,  H. 
Goya. 
Gozzoli,  B. 
Greco,  El. 
Gretius. 
Greiitzner,  E. 
Greuze,  J.  B. 
Guercino. 
Gue>in. 
Guido,  Rene. 
Guidi,  T.      . 
Hahnel,  E.      . 
Hals,  Frans. 


PAGB. 

248 
166 
25° 
94 
257 
'53 
xiii 

44 
46 

43 
6 

254 

251 

261 

82 

82 

200 

205 

7 

16 

218 

251 

251 

246 

3 

4 

138 

257 

175 

226 

226 

246 

7 

14 

43 

249 

54 

46 

3.43 

4 

224 

253 
106 
198 
10 
181 

139 
140 
218 
69 
226 

67 

8 

262 

161 


267 


J<K, 


I. XI)  EX. 


.J.L. 


HrrmJu-rk     . 
lint.  Ilnnnch  Von. 
Hcae.  Peter  Von.    . 
Hmm.  A.  J. 

HUdebramlt 
Hobbeme.  M 
Hulbrtn.  Han*. 
II  .  *«-:n    >njimun<!. 
Heejtettral    QesejM 

'     I) 
leahey.  E.  L.  O.    . 
Uabey.J.  B. 
Israeh,  J. 
Jerkh-.u.     . 
JoruWus.  Jacob.    . 
Jouvinrt      . 
KM.  W. 

irn. 
Kaalbach.  W.  Von. 

L   . 
Kohler. 
Kuni 

Lafcnae.  Pleter. 
L'AUcuae. 
Laarman,  Pleter. 
Leon  llrmnann. 

Levy.  Rmil«. 
UM,  <  lirolamo  Dai. 
Uppi.  Kilipo  Fra. 
Lochner.  Stephen. 
I»nghi. 
Luccardi. 
Madraao.    . 

Makart.  Han*.    . 
Mantegna.  A. 
Manuel.  Ntcolans. 
Maratti.  Carlo. 


Maaolino. 
Mathurin  Moreaii 
Maatya,  Quentin. 
Meaaonkr.  J.  L.  E. 
MeOotao.  Forli  Da. 
Mending.  Ham. 
Mrngv  Raphael. 
Mcsdag.      . 
Mnwru,  A.  Da. 
Mettn.  Oabrid. 
Metxatacher,  E 
Mlcon. 
Miens.  Frans 
Mignard.  Nicolas. 
Mignard.  P.    . 
Millet.  J    F. 

Monti 

Monica.  Ul*. 
Morando.  P. 
MnvgW  Raphael 

Mailer.  C.      . 

I 
Munllo 


u 


raca 
»54 
•  34 
"75 
«3» 
«3" 
350 

I3« 

"7" 
IOI 
lot 
107 
240 
350 
34* 
175.  *S8 
359 
»59 
316 

"74 
I7S 

'39 
•34 
134 

86 
316 

60 
163 

»53 
134.  138 
350 

53 
11 

89 
79 
8a 

aoa 
8s 

«4° 
"4 

103 
70 

7 
6 

»SS 
150 
353 
'4 
"47 
107 

"75 

43 

167 

»SS 
xiv 
166 
313 

311 
341 

II 
83 

8a 

17* 
53 
79 
S3 
'•1 
•55 
»9* 
43 


:   Oraao    . 

Orcagna.  Andrea. 
rlicck.  F. 

Pacheco.  F. 

I\ilm.i.  Jacopo. 

Paiuenus.    . 

Pankaft,  M.  Da. 
1.  Juan. 

I'.irili.isiuv 
i.L.    . 

IVnsi.  George. 
no.     . 

Phidias. 

PUoty,  Karl. 
m,  Jacob. 

I'nitiiriccho. 

I"ioml>o.  Sebastiano  Del. 
,    I'isano,  Nicolo.    . 

Ilassan.  A.  K. 

Porrd 

Pi  lygnotn*.    . 

Portaeb,  J.  F.     . 

Potter,  I'aul. 

Pousain,  N. 

Primaiiccio.     . 
;    Prud'hon.  P. 
j    Puccio.  Pietro  Du. 

Raphiel. 
1    Rrgnauli.  Henri.     . 

Reidrl.  A.    . 

Raltsebel,  E.  K.  A. 
indl. 

. 

Redid,  A.   . 

Ribalta,  F.  De. 

Rilx-r...  G.  . 

RilxT.l.  Joscl 

Rlncon,  Antonio. 
Roelas,  Juan  De  Las. 
Romano.  Guilio. 
Ronner.  H.     . 
Rota,  Silvalor. 
Roselli.  C.       . 
Rosetti. 
Rotlenhamer.  Jacob. 
Rotlenhamer,  Johann. 
Rubens.  P.  P. 
Ruysdale,  Jacob. 
Sacchi.  Andrea. 
Sanchez.  J,  I)c  Castro. 
Sandrarl.  Joachim  Von. 
Santi,  Giovanni. 

Sarin,  Andre  Del 

Schadow,  R. 
Schadow.  Wilhelm. 
Scheffcr.  Ar\ 
Schloas.  KaillUlll. 
Schnorr.  Julius. 
Schorccl.  Jan. 
Schwanthaler. 
SetirijaM    J      . 

•'li.  I.uca. 
Snydcrv  Pram. 

S..hn.  ' 
Stammel. 

Sumino.  Gherado. 
Siren.   |an. 

Steinle 


33,  26 


race 

SO 
6 
no,  133 

184 

47 

xiv 

7 
194 

.        XIV 

83 

99 
15.34 

XIII 

135 

•  ««>3 

16 

3«.  40 

a 

■    »54 

xii 

.     xiii 

»58 

•  »70 
313 

4^.63 

328 

6 

30.34 

•  "43 
361 

.     361 

163 

.     306 

"34 
.     180 

73 

.     183 

178 

.     183 

4" 

175 

70.74 

n 

83 

60 

107 

1-4 

171 

70 

177 

107 

34 

•  3" 
aoo 

133.  137 
338 
86 
«30 
1    1 
360 
134 
H 
"59 
"34 
"39 
6 
«67 
4 

"39 


IQ. 


rAi.«. 
ao8 

"M 
163 

3 
160 


Sueur.  E.  Le 

Su<i^rman.  L. 

Swanenbrrg.  J 

Tan.  Andrea.      .... 

Tclcphanev 

Teniers,  David.  .... 

Terburg,  Gerard 167 

Theodorich  of  Prague.        ...  86 

Thorwaldsen,  A a$o 

Tibaldi.  P 63 

Ttdemand. 134 

Tintoretto. 59. 60 

-47 

Tobido 54 

Toschi 83 


343 

Tschaggency.  C.      . 

359 

V antler  Goes.  Hugo.  . 

.         .         .         146 

Vandcr  Meirc.  Gerard.  . 

.         .         .     14'. 

Vander  Wcrff.  A. 

Vander  Weyden,  Roger. 

00,  "47 

Van  de  Velde.  W.       . 

I7t.  358 

Van  Dvclc.  Anthony 

"58 

Van  Elmer. 

"75 

Van  Eyck.  Hubert. 

"li 

Van  Eyck.  Jan.  . 

141 

Van  Evck.  Margaret. 

.         .              146 

Van  Ejroken,  J.  . 

. 

Van  Goyen,  Jan.    . 

.     160 

Van  Hugtenberg.  Jan. 

. 

Van  Lvjfdett,  I.uca     • 

1- 

Van  Orley,  Iiernard. 

. 

Van  Ostade,  Adrian.   . 

161,  169 

Van  Ouwatcr.  Allien.     • 

■ 

Van  Vntndt,  Frans. 

151 

Vargas,  Luis  De. 

178 

Vasari.  Giorgio. 

31 

lio,  I'.ilm.i 

47 

Veil,  Pliilipp. 

no.  138 

188 

Venict,  C.  |.        . 

230 

Vemet.  Carle. 

.    330 

Vernal,  Horace. 

. 

Veronese.  P.    . 

. 

Villegas.      . 

6 

361 

Wappcrs,  Baron.    . 

. 

Watteau,  A. 

.1 

\\'..ut<-r».  E.    . 

.      858 

Wei-nn.  Jan. 

"74 

88 

Winirrhillrr,  K    X 

. 

Wurmser.  N. 

85 

Wvnants.  Jan. 

. 

Vv..n.  A.      .         .         . 

. 

Battitta. 55 

Znixis. **» 

Zuccarelli.  F 77 

Z.irharan.  F.  IV.  it* 


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